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FROM   THE   LIBRARY   OF 
REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,   D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED   BY   HIM   TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


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NEW-YOBJC. 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://archive.org/details/johneliotOOfran 


THE 


LIBRARY 


OP 


AMERICAN    BIOGRAPHY 


CONDUCTED 
Br    JARED    SPARKS. 


VOL.    V. 


NEW. YORK: 
PUBLISHED    BY    HARPER    &    BROTHERS, 

NO.    82    CLIFF-STREET. 

1  84  4. 


LIFE 


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OCT   9    1931 


OF 


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JOHN    ELIOT, 


THE 


APOSTLE    TO     THE    INDIANS 


By    CONVERS    FRANCIS 


NEW-YORK: 

HARPER   A    BROTHERS,   82   CLIFF-STREET. 


184  4, 


Entered  according  to  the  act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1836, 
by  Jared  Sparks, 
the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


PREFACE 


In  preparing  the  following  account  of  the 
Apostle  Eliot,  it  has  been  my  object  to  con- 
fine the  narrative  as  strictly  as  possible  within 
the  limits  of  his  personal  biography,  and  of 
the  circumstances  necessarily  connected  with 
it.  The  story  obviously  furnishes  many 
points,  at  which  a  writer  would  desire  to 
avail  himself  of  the  opportunities  presented 
for  discussion  and  general  remarks.  Among 
these  topics,  the  condition  and  fate  of  the 
American  Indians,  and  the  character  of  mis- 
sionary enterprises  among  them  since  Eliot's 
time,  would  open  a  large  field  for  inquiry 
and  reflection,  in  connexion  with  the  history 
of  a  man,  who  labored  so  strenuously  for  that 
interesting  race.  It  would  likewise  be  desir- 
able to  take  a  somewhat  ample  notice  of  Mr. 
Eliot's  fellow -laborers  in  the  same  benevo- 
lent work.     But  my  limits  have  necessarily 


^  PREFACE 


precluded  these  and  similar  digressions.  The 
object  of  a  work  like  the  present  is  to  give  a 
distinct  and  faithful  picture  of  the  life,  doings, 
opinions,  and  habits  of  the  individual;  and 
the  reader  must  be  left  to  derive  from  the 
account  such  materials  for  speculation  as 
may  be  suggested  to  his  own  mind. 

Of  the  sources,  from  which  I  have  drawn 
the  facts  for  this  biographical  sketch,  some 
are  obvious,  and  have  been  before  used ;  to 
others  access  has  hitherto  been  had  either 
not  at  all,  or  only  at  second  hand.  The  "Col- 
lections of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety," which  are  full  of  useful  materials  for 
the  student  of  American  history,  have  af- 
forded important  aid.  These  volumes,  be- 
sides the  account  of  the  apostle  Eliot  pre- 
pared by  his  highly  respected  namesake,  the 
Reverend  Dr.  John  Eliot  of  Boston,  contain 
scattered  facts  and  documents  connected 
with  the  subject  of  this  work.  I  have  con- 
sulted the  Colony  Records,  and  in  a  few  in- 
stances they  have  furnished'  me  with  facts, 
which  I  was  glad  to  obtain. 


PREFACE. 


Vll 


I  have  been  reluctantly  compelled,  by- 
want  of  room,  to  omit  many  of  the  most  in- 
teresting questions  proposed  by  the  Indian 
converts  to  their  teacher,  and  some  details  of 
Mr.  Eliot's  proceedings.  But  I  hope  the  book 
will  be  found  to  present  a  fair  representation 
of  his  deeds  and  character,  and  to  consti- 
tute a  memorial  not  altogether  unworthy  of 
one  belonging  to  the  venerable  class  of  "  the 
righteous  who  shall  be  in  everlasting  remem- 
brance." The  record  of  the  wise  and  good 
will  never  be  forgotten  by  a  community,  who 
understand  what  they  owe  to  themselves  ; 
and  it  may  be  refreshing  briefly  to  withdraw 
from  the  heating  excitements,  which  daily 
crowd  upon  the  public  mind,  to  the  con- 
templation of  a  man,  whose  long  life  was  a 
life  of  moral  labor,  whose  active  spirit  was 
a  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and  of  pure  be- 
nevolence. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

Page 
Eliot's  Birth.  —  Education.  —  Connexion    with 
Mr.  Hooker.  —  Arrival  and  Ministry  in  Bos- 
ton. —  Marriage.  —  Settlement  at  Roxbury.  3 

CHAPTER  II. 

Eliot's  Animadversions  on  the  Pequot  Treaty. — 
His  Connexion  with  the  Trial  of  3Irs.  Hutch- 
inson. —  His  Agency  in  the  New  England 
Version  of  the  Psalms 14 

CHAPTER  III. 

General  Remarks  on  the  Indians.  —  Interest  in 
their  Conversion  to  Christianity.  —  Mr.  Eliot's 
Preparation  for  the  Work  by  learning  the  In- 
dian Language 30 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Eliot's  First  Visits  to  the  Indians  at  Nonantum.      46 
CHAPTER  V. 

The  Nonantum  Establishment.  —  Meetings  and 
Eliot's  Preaching  at  Neponset.  —  Cutshdma- 
hin.  —  Questions  and  Difficulties  proposed  by 
the  Indians.  —  Eliot  at  Concord.      .  .      67 


X  CONTENTS . 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Visit  of  Shepard  and  Others  to  Nonantvm.  —  A 
Court  established  for  the   "  Praying  Indians." 

—  Their  Appearance  before  a  Synod.  —  Their 
Questions.  —  Their  Observance  of  the  Sabbath. 

—  Funeral  of  a  Child 86 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Eliot's  Visits  to  Passaconaway  at  Pautucket.  — 
Kindness  experienced  by  Him  from  the  Nasha- 
way   Sachem,  and  his  Exposure  and  Suffering. 

—  His  Agency  with  Regard  to  Murders  com- 
mitted among  the  Indians.  —  Excursion  to 
Yarmouth 104 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Eliofs  Care  of  Nonantum.  —  Questions.  —  Eli- 
ot1 s  Endeavors  to  interest  Others  in  the  Cause. 

—  His  Need  of  Assistance.  —  Society  for  Pro- 
pagating the  Gospel  among  the  Indians  estab- 
lished in  England 124 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Further  Labors  of  Eliot  among  the  Natives.  — 
His  Letters  to  Winslow.  —  Questions  of  the 
Indians.  —  Eliofs  Converts  troubled  by  Gor- 
ton's Doctrines.  —  Desire  of  the  Indians  for  a 
Town  'and  School.  —  Opposition  from  the  Pow- 
aws  and  Sachems 138 


CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Settlement  at  Natick.  —  Labors  of  the  In- 
dians at  that  Place.  —  Form  of  Polity  devised 
for  them  by  Eliot.  —  Their  Civil  Covenant.  — 
Visit  of  Governor  Endicot  and  Mr.  Wilson  to 
Natick,  and  their  Account.  —  Eliot1  s  Endeav- 
ors to  form  Indian  Preachers.  —  Further  Par- 
ticulars of  Natick 160 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Proposed   Organization  of  a  Church  at  Natick. 

—  Examination  and  Confessions  of  the  In- 
dians. —  Delays.  —  Intemperance  among  the  In- 
dians. —  Further  Examinations.  —  A  Church 
established.  —  Affectionate  Regards  and  Kind 
Services  of  the  Christian  Natives.  —  Misrepre- 
sentations as  to  Eliot  and  his  Work.  —  Ap- 
pointment   of    English    Magistrates  for    the 

"  Praying  Indians." 183 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Eliot's  "  Christian  Commonwealth." — His  Trans- 
lation of  the  Scriptures  into  the  Indian  Lan- 
guage. —  Second  Edition  of  the    Translation. 

—  Remarks  on  the  Work 210 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Further  Translations  and  other  Books  for  the 
Christian  Indians  by  Mr.  Eliot.  —  His  Indian 
Grammar.  —  His  "  Communion  of  Churches," 
fyc.  —  Indians  at  Harvard  University.  —  In- 
dian College.  —  Towns  of  "  Praying  Indians."  243 


Ill  C  ONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Letter  from  Eliot  to  Governor  Prince.  —  Suffer- 
ings and  Conduct  of  the  Christian  Indians 
during  Philip's  War,  and  Eliot's  Solicitude  on 
their  Behalf 266 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Eliot's  "  Harmony  of  the  Gospels."  —  Informa- 
tion gathered  from  his  Letters  to  Robert  Boyle. 

—  Notice  of  him  by  John  Dunton  and  Increase 
Mather.  —  Indian  Teacher  ordained  at  Natick. 

—  Remarks  on  Eliot's  Labors  among  the  In- 
dians  288 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Studies,  Preaching,  Charity,  and  General 
Habits  of  Mr.  Eliot,  during  his  Ministry  at 
Rozbury. —  His  Family 306 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Eliofs  Old  Age  and  Death.  —  Concluding  Re- 
marks  328 


Appendix 345 


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CHAPTER  I. 

Eliot's  Birth.  —  Education.  —  Connexion  with 
Mr.  Hooker.  —  Arrival  and  Ministry  in  Bos- 
ton.—  Marriage.  —  Settlement  at  Roxbury. 

The  distinguished  man,  whose  life  consti- 
tutes the  subject  of  the  following  narrative,  is 
familiarly  known  in  New  England  history  as 
the  Apostle  to  the  Indians,  a  title  as  richly  de- 
served, as  it  is  significant  and  honorable.  John 
Eliot  was  born  at  Nasing,*  Essex  County,  Eng- 
land, in  1604,  and,  as  Prince  supposes,!  in  No- 
vember of  that  year.  At  this  distance  of  time, 
little  information  can  be  had  concerning  that 

*  I  state  this  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Moore  {Memoirs  of 
Eliot),  and  of  President  Allen  [Biographical  Dictionary, 
second  edition),  who,  however,  both  make  a  slight  mis- 
take of  orthography  in  calling  the  place  Nasin.  The  older 
writers  do  not  give  the  birth-place  of  Eliot.  Cotton 
Mather,  who  was  his  contemporary,  says,  "  It  was  a  town 
in  England,  the  name  whereof  I  cannot  presently  recover." 
Nasing  is  in  Essex,  near  Waltham,  and  between  Epping 
and  Harlow. 

f  Annals,  Part  II.  Sec.  2. 


4  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

part  of  his  life,  which  was  passed  in  his  native 
country.  All  that  we  know  of  it  is  scanty  in 
amount,  and  of  a  general  character.  We  learn 
that  Mr.  Eliot's  parents  were  persons  of  re- 
markable piety,  and  that  they  sought,  with 
conscientious  solicitude,  to  give  the  feelings 
of  their  son  a  spiritual  direction,  and  a  devout 
cast,  even  in  the  earliest  days  of  childhood.  In 
his  own  expressive  language,  his  "  first  years 
were  seasoned  with  the  fear  of  God,  the  word, 
and  prayer."  Their  pious  care  was  not  lost. 
It  laid  the  foundation  of  a  character  well  fitted 
for  extraordinary  tasks  in  the  service  of  God. 
They  cast  good  seed  on  the  young  mind ;  but 
they  knew  not,  that,  across  the  ocean  in  the  far 
distant  wilderness,  it  was  destined  to  produce 
fruit  for  the  nourishment  of  spiritual  life  in  the 
church,  and  in  the  cabins  of  the  benighted  chil- 
dren of  the  forest. 

Mr.  Eliot  was  educated  at  one  of  the  English 
Universities,  probably  at  Cambridge,  though  we 
know  not  at  which  of  the  numerous  halls  in  that 
seat  of  learning.  To  his  character  as  a  scholar, 
during  this  forming  period  of  life,  there  is 
merely  a  general,  but  an  honorable  testimony. 
He  acquired  a  sound,  thorough,  and  discrim- 
inating knowledge  of  the  original  languages 
of  the  Scriptures,  became  well  versed  in  the 
general  course  of  liberal  studies,  and  was  par- 
ticularly skilful  in  theological  learning.     It  is 


JOHN     ELIOT.  O 

recorded  that  he  had  a  partiality  for  philolog- 
ical inquiries,  and  was  an  acute  grammarian ;  a 
turn  of  mind  which,  we  may  suppose,  afterwards 
had  its  influence  in  stimulating  and  directing 
the  labor  his  pious  zeal  prompted  him  to  be- 
stow on  the  language  of  the  Indians. 

On  leaving  the  University  he  engaged  in  the 
business  of  instruction.  Mr.  Hooker,  who  at  a 
subsequent  period  became  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent among  the  worthies  of  New  England,  hav- 
ing been  silenced  in  the  work  of  preaching  on 
account  of  his  nonconformity,  had  established  a 
grammar  school  at  Little  Baddow,  near  Chelms- 
ford in  Essex.  In  this  school  Mr.  Eliot  was 
employed  as  an  usher.  It  is  recorded,  that  he 
discharged  the  unostentatious,  but  important, 
duties  of  this  station  with  faithful  and  successful 
industry.  Cotton  Mather,  with  an  amusing  zeal, 
takes  pains  to  prove  that  he  was  not  disgraced 
by  the  employment.  This  reminds  us  of  the  folly 
of  those  writers,  who  drew  upon  themselves 
the  caustic  remarks  of  Johnson  for  endeavour- 
ing to  vindicate  Milton  from  the  degradation  of 
having  been  a  schoolmaster.  There  are  many 
facts,  which  show  that  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries  the  office  of  a  teacher  of 
youth  was  far  from  being  treated  with  that  re- 
spect in  England,  which  belongs  to  the  weighty 
task  of  building  up  minds  for  the  service  of  the 
state  and  of  the  world. 

B2 


6  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Eliot  was  by  his  situation  brought  into  that 
familiar  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Hooker,  which 
exerted  the  happiest  influence  on  the  advan- 
cing formation  of  his  character  and  principles. 
From  that  devoted  and  able  man  he  received 
deep  religious  impressions,  which  were  never 
effaced,  and  which  reinforced  with  strong  power 
all  the  good  effects  of  his  pious  education.  He 
always  spoke  of  his  residence  at  Little  Baddow 
as  a  rich  blessing  to  his  soul.  In  the  loneli- 
ness of  retirement,  and  in  the  quiet  sanctity  of 
Hooker's  household,  his  spiritual  life  was  kind- 
led into  that  expansive  energy,  which  led  him 
with  unalterable  purpose  to  the  service  of  God. 
"  When  I  came  to  this  blessed  family,"  said  he, 
"  I  then  saw,  and  never  before,  the  power  of 
godliness  in  its  lively  vigor  and  efficacy." 
Hooker  must  have  experienced  the  happiness, 
which  a  good  man  feels,  when  he  has  been  the 
instrument  of  bringing  a  gifted  mind  and  a 
sanctified  heart  to  work  for  the  cause  of  truth 
and  righteousness.* 

To  the  Christian  ministry  Eliot  now  resolved 
to  devote  himself.  But  for  the  Puritan  or  Non- 
conformist preacher  there  was  at  that  time  no 
open  field  in  England.    He  was  fortunate  if  he 

*  Cotton  Mather  was  in  possession  of  a  manuscript  writ- 
ten by  Mr.  Eliot,  in  which  he  gave  an  account  of  the  school 
and  of  his  residence  at  Little  Baddow.  See  MagnaUa, 
Book  III.  Life  of  Hooker. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  7 

escaped  imprisonment,  and  at  best  could  but 
exercise  his  office  in  a  half-suppressed,  clan- 
destine manner,  while  he  was  continually  star- 
tled by  the  sound  of  pursuit,  and  liable  at  any 
moment  to  be  taken  in  the  toils  laid  for  him  by 
arbitrary  power.*  It  is  not  necessary  here  to 
enter  into  the  detail  of  those  measures,  which 
were  pressed  with  pertinacious  folly,  till  in  the 
stormy  reaction  the  throne  and  the  church  went 
to  the  ground,  and  the  fierce  struggle  of  a  civil 
war  became  the  price,  at  which  some  advance 
was  gained  in  a  cause,  that  has  ever  since,  from 
time  to  time,  been  in  a  course  of  onward  move- 
ment. When  Mr.  Eliot  saw  that  his  friend  and 
instructer,  Hooker,  notwithstanding  the  inter- 
position of  forty-seven  conforming  clergymen 
on  his  behalf,  could  escape  from  the  searching 
tyranny  of  Laud  only  by  fleeing  to  Holland,  he 
must  have  been  convinced  that  neither  safety 
nor  usefulness  was  any  longer  to  be  expected 
in  his  native  country.  In  these  circumstances, 
he  turned  his  thoughts  to  the  new  western 
world.  There  a  refuge  had  already  been  found 
by  many,  of  whom  England  had  rendered  her- 
self unworthy;  and  there  he  resolved  to  take 

#  In  Eliot's  case,  it  would  seem,  the  persecution  extend- 
ed further  than  to  the  exercise  of  the  ministry,  if  we  may 
believe  Neal,  who  says  that  he  was  "  not  allowed  to  teach 
school  in  his  native  country."  —  History  of  the  Puritans, 
Vol.  II.  p.  245. 


8  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

his  lot  among  those,  who  were  driven  forth  by 
their  countrymen  to  do  a  great  work  for  human 
rights  and  for  God's  cause  in  the  wilderness. 

With  a  mind  thus  well  matured,  and  a  char- 
acter thus  prepared  for  the  important  duties 
that  awaited  him,  Mr.  Eliot  bade  farewell 
to  the  home  of  his  fathers,  and  sought  the 
shores  of  America.  On  the  3d  of  November, 
1631,  the  ship  Lyon,  in  which  he  took  passage, 
came  to  anchor  in  Boston  harbour,  bringing  a 
company  of  about  sixty  persons.  Among  them 
were  the  wife  and  children  of  Governor  Win- 
throp.  Their  arrival  was  welcomed  with  pecu- 
liar demonstrations  of  joy,  and  every  thing, 
which  kindness  could  suggest,  was  done  to  give 
them  a  pleasant  reception.* 

Mr.  Eliot  was  now  twenty-seven  years  of 
age,  in  the  full  vigor  of  youthful  health  and 
strength.  No  sooner  had  he  landed,  than  he 
found  a  field  of  usefulness,  and  was  called  to 
the  work  on  which  his  heart  was  set.  Mr. 
Wilson,  pastor  of  the  First  Church  in  Boston, 
had  gone  to  England,  for  the  settlement  of 
his  affairs,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  preceding 
March.  In  his  absence,  the  religious  services 
had  been  superintended  and  conducted  by 
Governor  Winthrop,  Mr.  Dudley,  and  Mr.  Now- 
ell,  the  elder.  Wilson,  at  a  solemn  meeting 
before  his  departure,  had  designated  these  in- 

*  Savage's  Winthrop,  Vol.  I.  pp.  63-66. 


JOHN     ELIOT,  9 

dividuals  as  best  fitted  for  "  the  exercise  of 
prophecy,"  as  it  was  termed,  that  is,  for  the 
office  of  public  religious  instruction.  The  duty- 
was  doubtless  well  and  wisely  discharged  by 
these  distinguished  laymen ;  and  the  church 
must  be  deemed  a  favored  one,  which,  in  the 
absence  of  its  pastor,  could  thus  furnish  from 
its  own  number  gifted  and  pious  men  to  sus- 
tain the  public  offices  of  the  Sabbath.  But  it 
was  natural,  that  they  should  avail  themselves 
of  the  first  opportunity  to  procure  the  services 
of  a  well-qualified  minister.  Such  an  oppor- 
tunity occurred  when  Mr.  Eliot  arrived.  He 
immediately  joined  the  Boston  church,  and  of- 
ficiated as  their  preacher  until  his  removal  to 
Roxbury.  He  performed  the  duties  of  this  sta- 
tion with  distinguished  ability  and  usefulness  ; 
and  the  church  welcomed  him  as  a  faithful 
helper  of  their  joy. 

In  the  following  February,  Mr.  Eliot  is  men- 
tioned as  one  of  those,  who  accompanied  the 
Governor  on  that  excursion,  in  which  they  dis- 
covered and  named  Spot  Pond. 

When  Eliot  left  England,  more  tender  affec- 
tions than  those  of  national  feeling  still  lingered 
there.  His  heart  and  hand  were  pledged  to  a 
young  lady,  whose  name  is  not  transmitted  to 
us,  but  who  seems  to  have  been  in  every  re- 
spect worthy  of  such  a  man.  She  followed  him 
to  New  England,  and  their  marriage  took  place 


10  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

in  October,  1632.  Their  union  was  very  long 
and  very  happy.  She  is  said  to  have  been  a 
woman  of  much  active  benevolence  and  of  ex- 
emplary piety,  prompt  to  share  with  her  hus- 
band the  works  of  charity,  and  affording  him 
that  aid,  on  which  a  mind  tasked  and  wearied 
with  arduous  duties  might  lean  with  full  and 
refreshing  confidence. 

So  entirely  faithful  and  acceptable  were  the 
clerical  labors  of  Mr.  Eliot,  that  the  Boston 
church  expressed  a  strong  wish  to  retain  him 
permanently  in  their  service.  They  would 
gladly  have  settled  him,  as  teacher,  in  connex- 
ion with  their  pastor,  Wilson,  when  he  return- 
ed from  England.  They  seem,  from  Winthrop's 
account,*  to  have  set  their  hearts  much  on  ac- 
complishing this  union.  When  we  recollect 
the  character  of  the  leading  men  in  that  church, 
this  urgency  on  their  part  speaks  well  for  the 
gifts  and  graces,  which  could  so  soon  ex- 
cite an  interest  so  deep  and  strong.  But,  in 
consequence  of  a  prior  engagement,  their  cher- 
ished purpose  failed  of  success.  When  Eliot 
left  his  native  land,  a  considerable  number  of 
his  Christian  brethren,  who  loved  him  and  sym- 
pathized in  his  views,  had  thought  of  following 
him  to  America.  He  had  promised  them,  that, 
if  they  should  carry  that  plan  into  effect,  and 
should  arrive  in  New  England  before  he  had 

*  Vol.  I.  p.  93. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  11 

formed  a  regular  pastoral  connexion  with  any- 
other  church,  he  would  be  their  minister  and 
devote  himself  to  their  service.  The  next  year 
they  came  hither,  and  settled  at  Roxbury.  The 
pledge  he  had  given  was  now  to  be  redeemed. 
The  Boston  church  strove  earnestly  to  retain 
him,  but  in  vain.  Both  he  and  the  new  congre- 
gation preferred  to  abide  by  their  engagement. 
Accordingly,  on  the  5th  of  November,  1632,  he 
was  established  as  teacher  of  the  church  in 
Roxbury,  and  continued  in  that  office  till  his 
death.  The  following  year  he  received  a  col- 
league, Mr.  Welde,  with  whom  his  connexion 
was  uniformly  harmonious  and  happy.  In  1641 
Mr.  Welde  went  to  England,  as  agent  for  the 
province,  and  never  returned.  At  subsequent 
periods,  Mr.  Danforth  and  Mr.  Walter  were 
colleagues  with  the  Roxbury  teacher. 

Mr.  Eliot  now  found  himself  placed  in  a  re- 
lation, for  which  his  education,  his  habits  of 
thought,  and  the  spirituality  of  his  character 
were  adapted  to  give  him  a  strong  affection. 
He  loved  the  labors  of  the  ministry,  and  en- 
gaged in  them  with  his  whole  soul.  His  situa- 
tion had  much  that  was  attractive,  amidst  the 
hardships  and  trials  of  a  new  settlement.  He 
was  among  friends,  who  had  known  him  long 
enough  to  give  him  their  hearts  without  reserve. 
He  was  not  now  for  the  first  time  to  win  their 
confidence.     They  met  in  the  new  world  as 


12  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

those,  who  had  been  drawn  to  each  other  by- 
kindred  feelings  amidst  the  trials  of  their  na- 
tive land.  From  what  has  already  been  stated 
of  his  history,  it  may  seem  almost  superfluous 
to  say  that  his  important  duties  were  discharg- 
ed with  exemplary  zeal,  ability,  and  faithful- 
ness. Even  at  that  time,  when  ecclesiastical 
labors  were  the  first  and  highest  in  the  infant 
colony,  and  when  the  clergy  by  their  office  were 
leading  men  in  the  community,  scarcely  a  name 
can  be  mentioned,  which  stood  before  that  of 
Mr.  Eliot.  Of  his  ministry  in  Roxbury  there  is 
not  much  to  be  told,  that  can  be  presented  in  an 
historical  form  ;  for  the  life  of  a  clergyman,  as 
such,  though  full  of  toil,  is  not  full  of  events. 
We  know,  that  from  first  to  last  he  was  a  hard 
student  and  a  hard  worker  ;  breaking  the  bread 
of  life  with  affectionate  fidelity,  and  administer- 
ing divine  truth  with  uncompromising  sinceri- 
ty ;  fearless  in  rebuke  and  kind  in  counsel ; 
meeting  every  claim  of  duty  with  unwearied 
patience,  and  bringing  his  wisdom  to  bear  on 
the  most  common  things  ;  proverbially  charita- 
ble, and  ready  to  be  spent  in  every  good  work.* 

*  "  How  strong,"  says  Came,  "must  have  been  his  emo- 
tion, when  the  aged  Hooker  toiled  up  the  hill  to  listen  to 
the  words  of  the  man,  whose  soul  he  had  first  guided  ;  it 
was  one  of  the  most  touching  scenes  of  Eliot's  life,  when 
the  former,  well  stricken  in  years,  came  to  America,  to  lay 
his  bones  there,  and  found  his  once  young  and  valued 


JUHX      ELIOT.  13 

Another  part  of  this  narrative  may  afford  an 
opportunity  of  recurring  to  this  subject.  At 
present  I  will  only  remark,  that  the  abilities 
and  graces  manifested  in  his  professional  du- 
ties naturally  remind  us  of  those  delineations 
of  clerical  excellence,  in  which  simplicity  of 
heart,  sanctified  learning;,  and  watchful  fidelity 
are  beautifully  blended  : 

u  Such  priest  as  Chaucer  san?  in  fervent  lays, 
Such  as  the  heaven-taught  skill  of  Herbert  drew.' 

friend  thus  surrounded  with  comfort  and  respect."  —  Lives 
of  Eminent  Missionaries.  Vol.  I.  p.  9.  This  is  one  of  the 
pleasant  fancies,  of  which  Carne's  account  is  full.  It  B 
altogether  likely  that  Hooker,  when  he  came  to  New  Eng- 
land, visited  Eliot  and  heard  him  preach,  though  I  know 
not  where  Carne  found  any  notice  of  the  fact  With  re- 
spect to  the  interest  the  picture  derives  fr^n  the  old  age 
of  Hooker,  it  should  be  remembered  t*«l  he  was  but  forty- 
seven  years  old  when  he  arrived  «d  Boston,  and  that  three 
years  afterwards  he  remold  to  Hartford  in  Connecticut, 
and  died  there  in  1&*~,  in  his  sixty-second  year.  During 
the  short  time  in  which  he  had  opportunities  of  hearing 
his  young  friend  in  Roxbury,  he  could  not,  except  by  a 
poetical  license,  be  called  "well  stricken  in  vears." 


14  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER    II. 

Eliofs  Animadversions  on  the  Pequot  Treaty.  — 
His  Connexion  with  the  Trial  of  Mrs.  Hutchin- 
son. —  His  Agency  in  the  New  England  Version 
of  the  Psalms. 

Not  long  after  Mr.  Eliot's  settlement  at  Rox- 
bury,  he  was  brought  into  some  trouble  by  the 
honest,  though  perhaps  injudicious,  freedom  of 
his  remarks  on  a  civil  transaction.  In  Octo- 
ber, 1634,  a  messenger  from  the  sachem  of  the 
Pequots  waited  on  Mr.  Ludlow,  the  deputy- 
governor,  for  the  purpose  of  soliciting  the  es- 
tablishment ot  friendly  relations  by  treaty  be- 
tween that  tribe  and  \he  Massachusetts  settlers. 
The  Pequots  were  then  at  ^ar  with  the  Narra- 
gansets  and  with  the  Dutch;  and  their  anxiety 
to  secure  the  friendship,  if  not  the  direct  aid, 
of  the  English,  in  this  perilous  crisis  of  their 
affairs,  was  the  occasion  of  the  negotiation  they 
had  set  on  foot.  The  messenger  received  from 
the  deputy-governor  the  answer,  that  his  tribe 
must  send  more  responsible  persons,  before  the 
governor,  Mr.  Dudley,  would  consent  to  enter 
upon  the  consideration  of  the  business. 

The  next  month  two  of  the  Pequots  appeared 
in  the  character  of  ambassadors,  bringing  with 


JOHN     ELIOT.  15 

them  the  usual  Indian  present  of  wampum.* 
The  deputy-governor  accompanied  them  to 
Boston,  where  several  of  the  assistants  were  in 
attendance  on  the  weekly  lecture.  This  afford- 
ed an  opportunity  of  consulting  the  clergy,  as 
was  frequently  done  with  regard  to  important 
transactions  of  state.  The  result  of  the  de- 
liberation was,  that  an  offer  was  made  to  the 
Pequots  of  a  treaty  on  certain  conditions,  one 
of  which  was,  that  they  should  surrender  those 
Indians,  who  had  murdered  Captain  Stone,  and 
other  Englishmen,  some  time  before.  They 
agreed  to  deliver  up  the  two,  who,  as  they  al- 
leged, alone  survived  of  the  number  concerned 
in  that  outrage.  They  also  promised  to  favor 
the  settlement  of  an  English  plantation  in  Con- 
necticut, and  to  furnish  four  hundred  fathoms  of 
wampum,  besides  forty  beaver  and  thirty  otter 
skins.     On  these  terms,  the  government  of  the 

*  The  best  explanation  I  have  seen  of  this  term,  so 
often  occurring  in  Indian  history,  is  in  the  following  note 
furnished  for  Drake's  reprint  of  "The  Present  State  of 
New  England  with  respect  to  the  Indian  War,"  &c,  p.  28. 

"  Wampampeag,  commonly  called  Wampum,  was  the 
money  made  by  the  Indians,  and  made  a  lawful  tender  by 
the  whites.  It  was  white  and  black  ;  the  Avhite  was  formed 
of  the  Periwinkle,  or,  in  Indian,  Meteauhock  (Buccinum  la- 
pillus  and  undatum,  Linn.)  The  black,  of  the  Poquanhock, 
(now  called  Quahaug  or  Clam),  the  Venus  mercenaria  of 
Linnaeus.  Much  of  it,  and  indeed  most  of  it,  was  made  on 
Block  Island.  It  was  reckoned  by  fathoms,  and  parts  of  a 
fathom,  being  worth  from  5  to  10  shillings  the  fathom" 


16  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

colony  consented  to  establish  a  treaty  of  amity 
and  peace  with  them,  but  not  to  engage  in  an 
alliance  of  defence  against  their  enemies.* 

On  this  proceeding  Mr.  Eliot  thought  it  his 
duty  to  animadvert  with  some  freedom  in  a 
sermon  at  Roxbury.  This  he  did  in  accordance 
with  the  spirit  of  those  times,  when  the  minis- 
ters, in  their  concern  for  the  general  good, 
took  a  large  and  free  share  in  the  discussion  of 
all  matters  of  public  interest.  He  blamed  the 
ministers  for  advising,  and  the  magistrates  for 
concluding,  the  treaty  with  the  Pequots  in  such 
a  manner ;  nor  did  he  limit  his  rebukes  to  that 
point.  The  ground  of  his  censures  was,  that 
the  engagement  with  the  Indians  had  been 
made  by  the  governor  and  assistants  on  their 
own  authority  alone,  without  the  consent  of  the 
people  ;  plebe  inconsultd,  as  it  was  expressed. 

The  animadversions  of  the  Roxbury  teacher 
gave  much  offence.  It  was  supposed  they  might 
tend  to  the  disparagement  cf  the  magistrates, 
and  excite  a  spirit  of  complaint  unfriendly  to 
good  order.  The  apprehension  was  natural, 
considering  the  high  character  of  the  man  from 
whom  the  rebuke  came  ;  and  the  actual  effect 
was  to  call  forth  expressions  of  disaffection 
among  the  people.  It  was  deemed  too  im- 
portant a  matter  to  be  passed  over  in  si- 
lence.   The  government  appointed  Mr.  Cotton, 

*  Savage's  Winthrop,  Vol.  I.  p.  147. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  17 

Mr.  Hooker,  and  Eliot's  colleague,  Mr.  Welde, 
"  to  deal  with  him,"  as  the  phrase  was,  that  is, 
to  convince  him  of  his  error,  and  induce  him  to 
make  such  an  explanation  of  his  opinion,  as 
would  obviate  the  ill  consequences  of  his  cen- 
sures. These  divines  discussed  the  subject 
with  their  brother  minister.  He  confessed,  that 
he  had  taken  an  incorrect  view  of  the  case,  and 
that  the  form  of  his  opinion  was  erroneous. 
He  acknowledged,  that,  since  this  was  a  treaty 
for  peace  and  friendship,  and  not  one  the  con- 
sequence of  which  would  be  to  involve  the  colo- 
ny in  a  war,  he  thought  the  magistrates  might 
act  in  their  official  capacity  on  the  occasion 
without  waiting  for  the  consent  of  the  people. 
This  explanation  of  his  views  seems  to  have 
been  satisfactory,  and  he  promised  to  announce 
it  in  his  pulpit  on  the  next  Sabbath.* 

Mr.  Eliot's  objection  to  the  conduct  of  the 
governor  and  his  associates  in  this  instance 
can  scarcely,  I  suppose,  be  considered  sound  or 
defensible.  The  powers  of  the  Massachusetts 
government  at  that  time  seem  to  have  been 
somewhat  indefinite.  They  were,  by  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  case,  sometimes  exercised  rather 
according  to  present  wants  and  exigencies, 
than  upon  settled  and  guarded  principles.  It 
is  true,  the  charter  conferred  on  the  governor, 

*  Ibid.  p.  151. 
vol.  v.  2  ^2 


18  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

deputy-governor,  and  assistants  no  authority 
to  make  treaties  with  any  people  or  tribe.* 
But  the  charter  did  not,  and  could  not,  provide 
for  every  emergency,  that  should  arise  in  the 
affairs  of  a  colony  thrown  into  a  situation,  the 
wants  of  which  could  not  be  foreseen.  In  the 
absence  of  any  regulation  on  the  subject,  the 
treaty-making  power  seemed  naturally  to  rest 
with  the  executive  magistrates.  The  construc- 
tion, by  which  they  considered  the  application 
of  the  Pequots  as  a  case  lying  within  the  scope 
of  this  power,  and  believed  themselves  author- 
ized to  act  in  this  instance,  according  to  their 
discretion,  for  the  good  of  the  colony,  cannot 
probably  be  deemed  an  unjust  assumption. 
Yet  we  may  well  suppose  the  point  appeared 
sufficiently  doubtful  to  be  a  fair  subject  for  dif- 
ference of  opinion,  and  to  vindicate  Eliot,  if  he 
was  wrong,  from  the  charge  of  being  captious 
in  his  view  of  it.  However  unfounded  might  be 
his  objection,  his  error  could  have  sprung  only 
from  that  watchful  jealousy  for  the  rights  of 
the  people,  which  has  always  marked  the  char- 
acter of  the  American  communities,  and  which, 
in  most  other  cases  at  least,  has  been  suffi- 
ciently lauded.  At  the  particular  time  in  ques- 
tion, this  feeling  may  have  been  brought  into 
stronger  action,  than  usual,  in  his   mind.     For 

*  The  charter  may  be  seen  in  Hazard's  State  Papers, 
Vol.  I. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  19 

it  was  in  1634,  the  year  of  the  transaction  with 
the  Pequots,  that  the  people  vigorously  assert- 
ed their  right  to  a  larger  share  in  the  govern- 
ment, and  insisted  on  the  institution  of  a  rep- 
resentative body  to  be  chosen  from  the  several 
towns.*  The  popular  interest  excited  by  this 
movement  was  still  so  fresh,  when  the  Indians 
sent  their  embassy  to  Boston,  that  there  proba- 
bly existed  an  unusually  keen  disposition  to 
question  and  scrutinize  any  new  exercise  of 
power  f  by  the  governor  and  assistants.  When 
Mr.  Eliot  spoke  of  the  consent  of  the  people  as 
necessary  to  the  making  of  the  treaty,  he  must 
have  meant  the  consent  of  the  new  court  of 
delegates,  the  representatives  of  the  people. 
To  have  discussed  or  determined  the  matter  by 
a  meeting  of  the  whole  people  was  manifestly 
impracticable. 

With  regard  to  Eliot's  concession,  it  is  worthy 
of  remark,  that  it  does  not  imply  any  change  in 
his  view  of  the  point  at  issue,  considered  as  a 
question  of  right.  His  explanation  amounts, 
not   to   the   doctrine  that    treaties    in   general 

*  Hutchinson,  Vol.  I.  p.  39.  See  Mr.  Savage's  excellent 
remarks  on  the  interesting  occasion  referred  to  ;  Winthrop, 
Vol.  I.  p.  129. 

f  There  was,  I  believe,  no  instance  of  a  treaty  in  Massa- 
chusetts with  the  Indians  before  this  with  the  Pequots. 
Miantunnomoh,  the  Narraganset  sachem,  came  to  Boston 
for  that  purpose  in  1632  ;  but  nothing  was  done.  See 
Hutchinson,  Vol.  I.  p.  32. 


20  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

might  be  concluded  by  the  magistrates  without 
consulting  the  people,  but  that  in  this  case 
there  was  no  objection  to  be  made  to  the  exer- 
cise of  such  a  power,  because  the  people  could 
be  involved  in  no  injurious  consequences  by  it; 
an  explanation,  which  takes  the  ground  of  pres- 
ent expediency,  not  of  a  general  principle. 
He  doubtless  felt,  upon  consideration,  a  strong 
reluctance  to  disparage  the  authority  of  govern- 
ment, or  to  create  disaffection,  by  insisting 
pertinaciously  on  the  question  of  right  ;  and 
perhaps  he  had  begun  to  see,  that,  should  he  do 
so,  he  would  find  it  difficult  to  sustain  his  opin- 
ion. He  was  therefore  ready  at  once  to  with- 
draw his  opposition,  and  make  such  a  statement 
as  would  allay  excitement,  and  quiet  the  dis- 
turbed feelings  of  the  magistrates;  though  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  abjured  the  principle, 
on  which  his  censure  was  originally  founded. 
His  conduct  may  be  supposed  to  have  proceed- 
ed from  a  discreet  regard  to  the  public  peace ; 
but  I  find  no  evidence  that  he  was  timid.* 


*  Hubbard  praises  the  magnanimity  Eliot  displayed  by 
acknowledging  himself  in  the  wrong. —  General  History  of 
New  England,  p.  166. 

It  should  here  be  remarked,  that  Roger  Williams  is  said 
to  have  expressed  the  same  views  about  the  Pequot  treaty, 
as  Mr.  Eliot  did,  but  could  not,  like  him,  be  brought  to 
make  any  explanation.  This  statement  is  made  in  the  ac- 
count of  Mr.  Eliot  in  1  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  Vol.,VIII.  p.  28,  and 
repeated  in  Knowles's  Memoir  of  Roger  Williams,  p.  126. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  21 

Mr.  Eliot's  name  stands  connected  with  the 
agitation  respecting  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  which 
makes  so  conspicuous  a  figure  in  the  early  ec- 
clesiastical history  of  New  England.  That  the 
religious  opinions  of  this  remarkable  woman 
were  conscientiously  and  piously  held,  there  is 
no  reason  to  doubt;  and  that  she  possessed 
uncommon  abilities,  and  knew  well  how  to  use 
them,  must  be  conceded  by  all.  If  she  was 
pragmatical  or  officious  in  the  exhibition  of  her 
sentiments,  the  fault,  however  lamentable,  is 
too  common  to  diminish  our  sympathy  for  her 
hard  fate.  The  wisdom  of  permitting  every 
religious  manifestation,  however  fantastic,  if  it 
do  not  disturb  the  rights  of  others,  to  have 
room  in  the  community,  and  the  assurance  that, 
if  it  be  an  error  or  folly,  it  will  thus  soonest 
come  to  destruction,  are  lessons  gathered  from 
experience,    but    were    unknown    to    the    early 

Both  of  these  writers  refer  for  their  authority  to  Bentley's 
History  of  Salem ;  but  neither  specifies  the  place.  I  can 
find  no  such  statement  in  Bentley's  History.  He  says. 
"Unfortunately  for  Mr.  Williams,  the  apostle  Eliot,  immor- 
tal by  his  services  in  the  conversion  of  the  Indians,  had 
taken  liberty  to  speak  against  the  Indian  treaty,  though,  be- 
ing brought  to  confess  before  the  magistrate,  he  published 
afterwards  his  recantation."  —  1  Mass.  Hist.  Coll., Vol.  VI 
p.  247.  The  sentence  is  a  blind  one.  Why  it  was  un- 
fortunate for  Williams,  or  what  connexion  he  had  with  it, 
we  are  not  told.  I  am  not  aware  that  there  is  any  other 
passage,  in  which  Bentley  alludes  to  the  subject. 


22  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

settlers  of  New  England,  and  not  less  so  to  their 
brethren  in  the  mother  country.  Had  the  zeal 
of  Mrs.  Hutchinson  been  suffered  to  work  itself 
off  in  unnoticed  assemblies  with  her  friends,  or 
in  the  contests  of  private  argument,  a  painful 
season  of  bitterness  would  have  been  spared  to 
our  fathers ;  and  we  should  not  be  called  to 
lament,  that  dignified  magistrates  and  learned 
divines  should  have  deemed  it  their  duty,  in 
solemn  conclave,  to  hold  sharp  encounter  with 
a  female  on  antinomianism,  on  the  covenant  of 
grace  and  the  covenant  of  works,  on  the  per- 
sonal indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  on  assert- 
ed revelations  and  internal  impulses  ;  that  they 
should  have  banished  her  from  their  communi- 
,  and  afterwards  regarded  her  tragical  end 
as  a  special  judgment  for  her  errors  and  sins. 
She  was  evidently  regarded  as  a  formidable 
antagonist ;  for  the  author  of  Wonder-working 
Providence,  in  the  midst  of  his  invectives,  calls 
her  "  the  masterpiece  of  womens'  wit."  The 
pertinacity  and  zeal  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson  caused 
so  general  an  excitement,  that  for  the  first  time 
in  New  England  a  synod  was  summoned  by 
order  of  the  General  Court.  This  assembly, 
which  met  at  Cambridge  in  August,  1637,  seem 
to  have  had  as  much,  and  probably  about  as 
useful,  business  on  their  hands,  as  the  synods 
of  earlier  ages  ;  for,  before  they  separated,  they 
pronounced  condemnation  on  a  list  of  eighty- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  23 

two  erroneous  opinions.*  In  November  of  the 
same  year,  Mrs.  Hutchinson  was  brought  before 
the  court  and  several  of  the  elders  for  ex- 
amination.f 

On  this  occasion  Mr.  Eliot  appeared  among 
the  witnesses  against  her.  He  and  others  of 
the  clergy  had  visited  her,  and  in  the  course  of 
their  discussions  had  deemed  it  their  duty  to 
rebuke  her  for  the  severe  and  irritating  cen- 
sures she  had  uttered  against  all  the  ministers, 
except  Cotton  and  Wheelwright.  On  the  ex- 
amination, Mr.  Eliot  as  well  as  others  gave  his 
report  of  what  had  passed  in  conversation. 
He  had  at  the  time  taken  a  memorandum,  to 
which  he  could  now  appeal.  "  I  have  it  in  writ- 
ing," said  he,  "  therefore  I  do  avouch  it."  On 
the  second  day  of  the  examination,  Mrs.  Hutch- 
inson demanded  that  the  witnesses  against 
her  should  be  put  on  oath.  This  occasioned 
considerable  discussion.  Some  thought  there 
was  no  need  of  complying  with  her  demand  ; 
others   deemed   it  judicious  to   do   so,  for  the 

*  A  catalogue  of  these,  with  the  confutation  of  each,  is 
given  in  "  A  Short  Story  of  the  Rise,  Reign,  and  Ruin  of 
the  Jlntinomians,"  &c,  a  treatise  full  of  bitterness  and 
bigotry,  published  by  Welde,  Eliot's  colleague,  after  he 
went  to  England. 

f  A  minute  account  of  the  trial  is  given  in  Hutchinson, 
Vol.  II.  p.  423,  Appendix.  This  was  "an  ancient  manu- 
script " ;  but  at  what  time  or  by  whom  it  was  written,  the 
historian,  if  he  knew,  does  not  inform  us. 


24  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPh 

sake  of  general  satisfaction.  Mr.  Eliot  de- 
clared that  he  was  willing  "  to  speak  upon 
oath,"  adding  the  remark,  "  I  know  nothing 
we  have  spoken,  but  we  may  swear  to."  His 
colleague,  Welde,  and  Hugh  Peters  were  ready 
to  do  the  same.  At  length  an  oath  was  ad- 
ministered to  these  three,  and  they  gave  their 
testimony  with  respect  to  Mrs.  Hutchinson's 
conversation,  as  before.  Soon  after  this,  the 
trial  was  closed  by  the  condemnation  and  ban- 
ishment of  the  female  heresiarch. 

It  may  be  added,  that  during  the  trial  Mrs. 
Hutchinson  had  spoken  with  great  confidence 
of  her  supernatural  impulses  and  revelations  ; 
the  common  resort  of  fanatics,  especially  in 
seasons  of  persecution.  Mr.  Eliot  had  the  good 
sense  to  enter  his  protest  against  these  idle 
pretensions.  "  I  say,"  was  his  judicious  re- 
mark, "  there  is  an  expectation  of  things  prom- 
ised ;  but  to  have  a  particular  revelation  of 
things  that  shall  fall  out,  there  is  no  such  thing 
in  the  Scripture."  The  sentiment  seems  to 
have  been  regarded  as  somewhat  bold ;  for  the 
governor  immediately  interposed  the  caution, 
that  we  must  not  "  limit  the  word  of  God." 
During  the  discussion,  reference  had  been  made 
by  one  of  the  deputies  to  a  revelation,  which 
Mr.  Hooker,  while  he  was  in  Holland,  professed 
to  have  had  respecting  the  approaching  de- 
struction  of  England.     Eliot,  who   could  not 


JOHN     ELIOT.  25 

patiently  hear  the  name  of  his  revered  instruo 
ter  adduced  in  support  of  a  delusion,  called  in 
question  the  truth  of  this  statement.  "  That 
speech  of  Mr.  Hooker's,"  said  he,  "  which  they 
allege,  is  against  his  mind  and  judgment " ; 
meaning,  I  suppose,  that  it  was  inconsistent 
with  what  he  knew  of  Hooker's  opinions  and 
habits  of  thought  on  such  subjects.*  This  part 
of  the  discussion  at  least  was  honorable  to  his 
frankness  and  sound  judgment.  On  the  whole, 
the  agency  which  he  had  in  the  measures 
respecting  this  unfortunate  and  misguided 
woman,  if  considered  in  comparison  with  the 
conduct  of  others,  cannot  be  alleged  to  his  dis- 
credit.     He  was   stern   and  inflexible   against 

*  If  wo  may  credit  Mather  (.Magnalia,  Vol.  I.  Book  III. 
p.  310),  Hooker  afterwards  avowed  at  Hartford  the  reve- 
lation in  question  ;  so  that  Eliot  committed  the  creditable 
mistake  of  thinking  better  of  his  instructor's  judgment  than 
it  deserved.  It  may  here  be  remarked,  that  Hooker  had, 
by  some  report,  been  led  to  misapprehend  Eliot's  views 
about  the  Hutchinson  excitement ;  for  in  a  letter  to  Shep- 
ard  of  Cambridge  he  says,  "A  copy  of  Mr.  Vane's  expres- 
sions at  Roxbury  I  desire  to  see  and  receive  by  the  next 
messenger.  I  have  heard  my  brother  Eliot  is  come  about 
to  this  opinion.  I  have  writ  to  him  about  it.  I  would 
fain  come  to  a  bandy  where  I  might  be  a  little  rude  in  the 
business ;  for  I  do  as  verily  believe  it  to  be  false,  as  1  do 
believe  any  article  of  my  faith  to  be  true."  —  Hutchinson, 
Vol.  I.  p.  48.  Hooker's  information  about  Eliot's  opinion 
could  not  be  true.  There  is  no  evidence  that  Eliot  ever 
belonged  to  Vane's  party  ;  and  in  the  examination  of  Mrs. 
Hutchinson  he  was  decidedly  opposed  to  that  party. 

D 


26  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

her,  as  the  rest  were.  But  during  the  proceed- 
ings at  the  trial,  I  see  no  evidence  that  he  lost 
his  temper,  or  indulged  in  bitterness  of  expres- 
sion, as  some  others  unhappily  did.  He  be- 
lieved he  was  doing  his  duty  to  God  and  the 
churches  ;  and,  if  he  was  right  in  that  convic- 
tion, his  manner  of  doing  it  seems  not  justly 
liable  to  censure. 

We  next  find  Mr.  Eliot  concerned  in  an  at- 
tempt, which  was  made  to  improve  the  psalmo- 
dy of  the  churches.  In  1639,  the  civil  and  ec- 
clesiastical leaders  of  the  colony  decided  to 
have  a  new  version  of  the  Psalms  for  use  in 
public  worship.  The  task  of  preparing  it  was 
assigned  to  Mr.  Eliot,  Mr.  Wekle,  and  Richard 
Mather  of  Dorchester,  who  were  considered 
well  qualified  by  their  Hebrew  scholarship. 
Their  work  was  printed  at  Cambridge  by  Daye 
in  1640.  It  was  entitled  "  The  Psalms  in 
Metre,  faithfully  translated  for  the  Use,  Edifi- 
cation, and  Comfort  of  the  Saints  in  publick 
and  private,  especially  in  New  England."  It 
was  known  by  the  name  of  "  The  Bay  Psalm 
Hook"  but  afterwards  was  more  commonly 
designated  as  "  The  New  England  Version  of 
the  Psalms,"  by  which  appellation  it  is  now  best 
known.  We  have  no  means  of  ascertaining 
Eliot's  individual  portion  of  this  pious  labor. 
The  reverend  versifiers  seem  to  have  antici- 
pated   some    unfavorable    criticisms.       In    the 


JOHN     ELIOT.  27 

preface  they  say, "  If  the  verses  are  not  alwayes 
so  smooth  and  elegant  as  some  may  desire  or 
expect,  let  them  consider  that  God's  altar 
needs  not  our  pollishings  ;  for  wee  have  re- 
spected rather  a  plaine  translation,  than  to 
smooth  our  verses  with  the  sweetness  of  any 
paraphrase,  and  soe  have  attended  conscience 
rather  than  elegance,  fidelity  rather  than  poe- 
try, in  translating  the  Hebrew  words  into  Eng- 
lish language,  and  David's  poetry  into  English 
metre." 

Notwithstanding  this  deprecatory  apology, 
there  were  some,  who  did  not  suppress  their 
disposition  to  sneer  at  the  new  Psalm-book.* 
The  poetical  merits  of  this  metrical  translation 
are  indeed  sufficiently  humble.  One  is  com- 
pelled to  go  back  in  imagination  two  centuries, 
in  order  to  understand  how  it  was,  that  devo- 
tion did  not  expire  in  singing  such  stanzas. 
Yet,  when    compared  with    the    specimens   of 

*  The  admonition  of  Mr.  Shepard  of  Cambridge  to  his 
brethren  on  this  occasion  has  been  often  quoted,  but  is 
perhaps  sufficiently  curious  to  be  repeated.  It  is  found  in 
the  Magnolia,  Book  III.  ch.  12.  Life  of  Dunster. 

"  You  Roxb'rv  poets   keep  clear  of  the  crime, 
Of  missing-  to  give  us  very  good  rhime. 
And  you  of  Dorchester  your  verses  lengthen, 
But  with  the  text's  own  words  you  will  them  strengthen." 

I  know  not  how  much  of  censure  Shepard  intended  ;  but 
whatever  it  was,  the  poetry  of  it  seems  scarcely  better 
than  that  of  the  version,  for  the  composition  of  which  the 
rhyming  advice  was  given. 


28  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

church  poetry  then  prevalent,  it  should  not 
be  severely  condemned.  At  least  it  may  be 
weighed  against  Sternhold  and  Hopkins  with- 
out sustaining  disparagement.  It  is  not  till  a 
recent  period,  that  the  claims  of  the  sanctuary 
on  the  hallowed  powers  of  imagination  and 
taste  have  been  appreciated  and  answered,  or 
that  strains  of  true  sweetness  and  grandeur 
have  been  consecrated  to  the  service  of  God. 

The  second  edition  of  this  version  was  pub- 
lished in  1647.  When  a  third  edition  was 
needed,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  attempt 
some  improvement.  The  task  was  committed 
to  Dunster,  president  of  Harvard  College,  who 
revised  the  whole,  and  added  to  it  "  Scriptural 
Songs  and  Hymns,"  written  by  Mr.  Richard 
Lyon.  The  book  passed  through  twenty  edi- 
tions, and  was  adopted  immediately  by  all  the 
New  England  churches,  except  that  of  Ply- 
mouth, into  which  it  was  not  received  for  many 
years.  That  church  used  the  version  made  by 
Ainsworth,  whom  they  had  known  and  highly 
respected    in    Holland.*      The    New  England 

*  A  copy  of  this  book  is  in  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society.  The  title  is  "  The  Booke  of  Psalmes  in  English 
Metre  ;  by  Henry  Ainsworth."  On  a  blank  leaf,  Prince, 
who  once  owned  the  volume,  has  written  the  following 
notice  :  "  This  version  of  Ainsworth  was  sung  in  Plymouth 
Colony,  and  I  suppose  in  the  rest  of  New  England  till 
the  New  England  version  was  printed  first  in  1640." 
Prince's   supposition   with   regard   to   "the   rest  of  New 


JOHN     ELIOT.  29 

version  was  reprinted  in  England  and  Scot- 
land, and  was  in  high  favor  with  many  of  the 
dissenting  congregations. 

The  Psalms  versified  by  Eliot,  Welde,  and 
Mather  were  the  first  book  printed  in  North 
America.  The  "  Freeman's  Oath,"  and  an 
Almanac,  had  been  printed  the  preceding  year. 

England  "  differs  from  the  statement  of  Dr.  Holmes  (His- 
tory of  Cambridge,  1  Mass.  Hist.  Coll., VII.  19),  who  says 
that  Sternhold  and  Hopkins  -were  in  common  use  before 
the  New  England  version  was  undertaken.  Of  this  last, 
Prince  himself  published  in  1758  a  revised  and  improved 
edition. 

It  may  here  be  mentioned  that  Mr.  Eliot  appears  some- 
times to  have  indulged  the  rhyming  vein  for  his  own 
amusement.  A  few  specimens  of  this  sort,  with  the  ana- 
grams so  common  in  that  age,  are  found  in  the  ancient 
book  of  records  belonging  to  the  church  in  Roxbury. 


30  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER    III. 

General  Remarks  on  the  Indians.  —  Interest  m 
their  Conversion  to  Christianity. — Mr.  Eliot's 
Preparation  for  the  Work  by  learning  the 
Indian  Language. 

We  come  now  to  that  portion  of  Mr.  Eliot's 
life,  which  was  spent  chiefly  in  efforts  to  spread 
the  Christian  faith  among  the  native  inhabit- 
ants of  New  England.  This  was  the  great 
work,  to  which  he  devoted  the  strongest  ener- 
gies of  his  mind,  and  the  best  part  of  his  days. 
It  was  the  mission,  to  which  he  felt  himself 
called  by  the  holiest  inducements  ;  and,  taken 
in  all  its  branches,  with  the  collateral  inquiries 
and  exertions  to.  which  it  led,  it  must  be  re- 
garded as  a  remarkable  passage  in  the  great 
history  of  Christian  benevolence. 

When  our  fathers  came  to  the  western  world, 
they  found  the  wilderness  peopled  by  a  race, 
who  could  not  fail  to  be  objects  of  strong  in- 
terest, apart  from  any  friendly  or  hostile  rela- 
tions. The  settlers  had  just  arrived  from  a 
country  abounding  in  all  the  refinements  of  the 
old  world,  and  were  suddenly  brought  into  the 
neighbourhood  of  a  people  exhibiting  the  pecu- 
liarities of  one  of  the  rudest  forms  of  savage 


JOHN     ELIOT.  31 

life.  Among  the  several  tribes,  who  roamed 
over  the  territory,  there  was  a  general  resem- 
blance in  character,  modes  of  life,  and  religion. 
The  virtues  and  the  vices  of  uncivilized  man 
have  been  exaggerated.  Rousseau,  who  found 
in  him  the  model  of  perfection,  and  Volney, 
who  sunk  him  beneath  humanity,  have  left  the 
truth  between  them.  The  savage  is  neither 
the  atrocious  brute  described  by  some,  nor  the 
noble  hero  pictured  by  the  imagination  of 
others.  He  is  simply  a  man,  in  whom  the  ani- 
mal nature  predominates,  and  in  whom  the 
intellectual  nature,  though  far  from  being 
quenched,  is  feeble,  puerile,  and  slumbering. 
The  several  functions  of  his  physical  and  spir- 
itual being  have  not  been  developed  in  harmo- 
nious and  well-proportioned  movements,  under 
the  influences  supplied  by  the  competitions  of 
ingenuity,  by  religion,  by  a  sense  of  present 
deficiency,  and  an  earnest  longing  after  im- 
provement. He  is  a  stationary  being,  because 
he  is  chiefly  a  sensual  being.  The  inward  life 
is  in  him ;  but  it  is  smothered,  or  has  reached 
only  its  childhood.  He  is  a  standing  refutation 
of  the  sophistry  of  those,  who  tell  us  that  the 
savage  condition  is  the  natural  state  of  man. 
Man's  truly  natural  state  is  that,  to  which  his 
nature,  in  all  its  developements,  efforts,  and 
wants,  tends  ;  that  is,  a  state  of  the  highest 
attainable    refinement    and    civilization.      The 


32  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Indians  of  New  England,  like  all  savages,  were 
averse  to  regular  labor  of  any  sort.  Their 
time  was  spent  in  the  alternations  of  war, 
hunting,  or  fishing,  and  idleness  or  sleep. 
Their  passions,  when  aroused,  were  fiercely 
impetuous,  their  love  of  revenge  keen  and  long- 
cherished  ;  but  the  elements  of  generous  and 
noble  dispositions  were  largely,  though  irregu- 
larly, mingled  in  their  character.  Their  knowl- 
edge was  limited  nearly  within  the  narrow 
circle  of  animal  wants  ;  and  their  ignorance  of 
the  use  of  the  metals  was  evinced  by  their 
habit  of  calling  an  Englishman  a  knife-man,  the 
knife  being  an  implement  wholly  new  to  them, 
and  one  which  they  greatly  admired.* 

The  germ  of  the  spiritual,  and  of  a  tendency 
to  the  infinite,  lies  in  the  bosom  of  savage  as 

*  The  contributions  to  the  history  of  the  Indians  are  so 
numerous  and  common,  that  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to 
make  any  special  references.  Heckew elder's  "Historical 
Account,"  published  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Transactions 
of  the  Historical  and  Literary  Committee  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  is  written  in  an  attractive  manner 
and  with  a  deep  interest  in  the  subject.  Hecke welder, 
however,  is  considered  by  some  as  having  been  too  credu- 
lous and  partial  to  be  a  trustworthy  authority.  It  is 
thought  that  he  was  disposed  to  paint  in  glowing  colors 
every  thing  pertaining  to  Indian  life  and  character,  es- 
pecially among  his  favorite  tribe,  the  Delawares.  See  an 
able  article  in  the  North  American  Review,  Vol  XXVI. 
pp.  366-  386  ;  and  a  spirited  and  interesting  examination 
of  the  strictures  made  by  the  writer  of  that  article,  in  the 
United  States  IAtei-ary  Gazette,  Vol.  IV.  pp.  262  -  374. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  33 

well  as  of  civilized  man.  The  religious  senti- 
ment is  there,  however  wild,  confused,  or  faint 
may  be  its  developement,  reminding  us  that 
"  under  the  ashes  of  our  collapsed  nature  there 
are  yet  remaining  sparks  of  celestial  fire." 
There  has  been  much  discussion,  and  no  little 
variety  of  statement,  respecting  the  religion  of 
the  American  Indians.  Some  have  declared 
that  they  had  no  religion  whatever.*  This 
erroneous  assertion  was  the  result,  partly  of 
scanty  observation,  and  partly  of  the  wary  re- 
luctance of  the  natives  to  make  any  communi- 
cations on  the  subject.  The  religion  of  the 
Indians  in  its  general  features  resembled  that 
of  other  uncivilized  tribes.  They  recognised 
the  divine  power  in  forms  suitable  to  their 
rude  conceptions.  The  developements  of  this 
sentiment  resembled  in  some  degree  the  poly- 
theism of  ancient  times.  Each  part  or  mani- 
festation of  nature  was  supposed  to  have  its 
peculiar  subordinate  god.  There  was  the  sun 
god,  the  moon  god,  and  so  of  other  things. 
That    disposition    to    believe    in    an    invisible 

*  Winslow  fell  into  this  mistake,  which  however  he 
afterwards  corrected  ;  "Whereas,"  says  he,  "myself  and 
others  in  former  letters  wrote,  that  the  Indians  about  us 
are  a  people  without  any  religion,  or  knowledge  of  any 
God,  therein  I  erred,  though  we  could  then  gather  no 
better."  —  Good  Newes  from  New  England,  2  M.  H.  Coll. 
IX.  91.  A  similar  error  is  found  in  the  accounts  of 
Hearne  and  C olden. 

VOL.    V.  3 


34  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

agency  concerned  in  each  particular  movement 
or  object,  which  is  in  fact  the  unfashioned  pre- 
sentiment of  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Infinite 
Agent,  was  a  striking  part  of  their  faith.  Every 
thing  in  nature  had  its  spirit ;  but  these  Manittos 
were  of  different  rank  and  influence.  The  In- 
dian felt  the  sentiment,  which  in  more  graceful 
or  beautiful  forms  the  imaginative  religion  of 
poetry  has  always  loved  to  cherish ; 

u  Live  not  the  stars  and  mountains  ?    Are  the  waves 
Without  a  spirit  ?  " 

When  the  storm  or  the  thunder-gust  was  ris- 
ing, he  would  beg  the  Manitto  of  the  air  to 
avert  its  terrors  ;  and  when  he  committed  his 
light  skiff  to  the  bosom  of  the  mighty  lake,  he 
would  pray  to  the  Manitto  of  the  waters  to 
calm  the  swell  of  its  heaving  waves.*  When 
any  thing,  which  he  did  not  understand,  took 
place,  or  any  exploit,  indicating  wonderful 
ability  or  skill,  was  performed,  he  exclaimed, 
it  is  a  spirit.]  But  with  this  polytheism  the 
Indians  united  a  belief  in  one  presiding  or 
chief  deity,  the  author  of  good,  who  lived  far 
in  the  west  part  of  the  heavens,  and  in  another 
great  being,  the  source  of  all  evil  and  mischief; 
a  creed  which  contained  the  seminal  principles 

*  Heckewelder's  Historical  Account,  p.  205. 

f  So,  too,  the  philosopher  in  ancient  times  affirmed, 
"Nemo  igitur  vir  magnus  sine  aliquo  afflatu  divino  unquam 
fuit."  —  Cic.  de  JVat.  Deorum,  Lib.  II.  66. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  35 

of  the  Manichean  doctrine.  The  notion  of 
some  form  of  existence  after  the  present,  and 
the  crude  elements  of  the  doctrine  of  retribu- 
tion, were  found  among  them.  Their  concep- 
tions of  a  future  life  were  sometimes  connected 
in  a  touching  manner  with  the  affections  and 
sympathies  growing  out  of  the  relations  of  this 
life.*  But  in  these  respects,  doubtless,  there 
were  differences  among  them  corresponding  to 
individual  susceptibilities  and  habits  of  feeling. 
Something  in  the  nature  of  a  priesthood  was 
found  among  the  New  England  Indians.  They 
had  an  order  of  men  and  women  called  pow- 
awsj  in  whose  connexion  with  invisible  powers 
they  had  great  faith.  The  common  office  of 
these  persons  was  to  cure  diseases  by  means 
of  herbs,  roots,  exorcisms,  and  magical  in- 
cantations. A  powaw,  in  short,  was  at  once 
priest,  physician,  and  juggler.  This  order 
of  men,  we  may  readily  suppose,  exercised  a 
strong  and  fearful  influence  over  a  people  dis- 
posed by  ignorance  to  see  the  mysterious  only 
in  its  grossest  forms,  and  to  tremble  before  it. 
Their  power  was  found  to  present  a  formidable 
obstacle  to  the  spread  of  Christianity ;  "  for," 
said  the  Indians,  "  if  we  once  pray  to  God,  we 
must  abandon  our  powaws,  and  then,  when  we 

#  See  a  beautiful  instance  of  this  in  Carver's  Travels^ 
p.  231. 


36  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

are  sick  and  wounded,  who  shall  heal  our 
maladies  ?"* 

Such,  among  the  Indians,  were  the  principal 
elements  of  that  religious  sentiment,  which  is 
an  indestructible  part  of  man's  nature,  and 
which  always  struggles  forth  into  some  out- 
ward expressions,  however  gross  and  barbar- 
ous. These  were  the  minds,  upon  which  and 
for  which  Eliot  was  to  work.  His  task  was 
certainly  a  laborious  one  ;  and  it  required  a 
strong  faith,  like  his,  to  make  it  lighter  by  the 
encouragement  of  hope. 

When  the  settlement  of  New  England  began, 
an  interest  in  the  civilization  and  conversion 
of  the  Indians  was  felt  by  many  in  the  mother 
country.  Among  others,  Dr.  Lake,  the  Bishop 
of  Bath  and  Wells,  had  the  object  so  much  at 
heart,  as  to  declare  that  nothing  but  his  old 
age  prevented  him  from  going  to  America  and 
devoting  himself  to  the  work.  In  the  charter 
granted  by  Charles  the  First  to  the  Massachu- 
setts colony,  this  was  mentioned  as  a  principal 

#  On  the  religion  of  the  Indians,  Gookin  (1  M.  H.  Coll.  I. 
154,  et  seq.) ;  Dr.  Jarvis's  learned  and  able  Discourse  before 
the  New  York  Historical  Society,  December  20th,  1819 ; 
Heckewelder's  Historical  Account ;  and  Lafitau,  Mazurs 
dcs  Sauvages  Ame'riquains,  may  be  consulted  with  advan- 
tage. On  the  general  subject  of  the  religion  of  savage 
life,  there  are  many  fine  remarks  in  the  work  of  Constant 
De  la  Religion,  fyc. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  37 

object.*  In  the  Plymouth  colony,  for  many 
years  after  the  landing,  but  little  was  or  could 
be  done  in  a  systematic  way  towards  bringing 
the  natives  within  the  Christian  church.  "  O 
that  you  had  converted  some,  before  you  killed 
any,"  said  John  Robinson  in  a  letter  to  the 
governor  of  Plymouth.  The  wish  was  an  ex- 
pression of  a  pious  concern  honorable  to  the 
good  man ;  but  the  circumstances  of  the  Pil- 
grim fathers  must  vindicate  their  conduct  from 
any  blame,  which  it  might  imply.  A  few  in- 
stances occurred,  in  which  the  interest  of  the 
Indians  was  excited  towards  the  religion  of 
their  new  neighbors.  One  of  them  in  1622 
was  induced,  by  the  supposed  answer  from 
Heaven  to  the  prayer  of  the  English  for  rain,  to 
forsake  his  tribe,  and  seek  some  knowledge  of 
the  Englishman's  God,  Two  years  after  the 
English  settled  in  Massachusetts,  Sagamore 
John,  who  had  from  the  first  been  kind  and 
courteous  to  them,  contracted  an  affection  for 

#  In  this  instrument  the  desire  is  expressed,  that  the 
settlers  "  maie  wynn  and  incite  the  Natives  of  the  Country 
to  the  Knowledg  and  Obedience  of  the  onlie  true  God  and 
Sauior  of  Mankinde,  and  the  Christian  Fayth,  which  m  our 
Royall  Intencon,  and  the  Adventurers  free  Profession,  is 
the  principall  Ende  of  this  Plantacion."  —  Hazard's  State 
Papers,  Vol.  I.  p.  252.  It  should  perhaps  be  mentioned, 
that  the  device  on  the  seal  of  the  Massachusetts  colony 
was  an  Indian  with  a  label  at  his  mouth,  containing  the 
words  "  Come  over  and  help  us." 

E 


38  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

their  religion,  but  was  soon  carried  off  by  the 
small-pox.  One  of  the  Pequots,  named  We- 
quash,  was  so  impressed  with  the  destruction 
of  his  tribe,  that  he  importuned  the  Christians 
to  make  him  acquainted  with  their  God ;  and 
having  become,  as  was  supposed,  a  sincere  con- 
vert, is  said  to  have  died  by  poison  given  him 
by  his  incensed  follow-savages.  Hiacoomes, 
the  distinguished  Indian  of  Martha's  Vineyard, 
was  converted  in  1643.  But  these  were  inci- 
dental cases,  not  resulting  from  systematic 
efforts  on  the  part  of  our  fathers.  Probably 
they  judged  wisely  in  not  making  such  efforts, 
till  they  had  become  better  acquainted  with  the 
Indian  character.  Besides,  the  care,  toil,  and 
anxiety  which  gathered  around  the  work  of  an 
infant  settlement,  "  res  dura  et  regni  novitas," 
the  quarrels  in  which  they  were  involved  with 
the  natives,  and  the  disturbances  among  them- 
selves, were  sufficient  for  some  time  to  occupy 
all  their  industry,  and  engross  all  their  energy. 
But  at  length  a  direct  action  was  awakened 
on  this  subject.  In  1646  an  order  was  passed 
by  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  to  pro- 
mote the  diffusion  of  Christianity  among  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants.  The  elders  of  the 
churches  were  requested  to  consider  how  it 
might  be  best  effected.*  It  was  probably  this 
proceeding    on    the    part    of   the   government, 

*  Hutchinson,  Vol.  I.  p.  151. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  39 

which  fixed  the  immediate  attention  of  Mr. 
Eliot  on  the  project.  He  had,  however,  long 
felt  a  deep  concern  for  the  moral  condition  of 
the  natives  ;  a  concern  inspired  by  his  sancti- 
fied love  of  doing  good,  and  increased  proba- 
bly by  his  belief,  that  the  Indians  were  the 
descendants  of  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel.  This 
theory,  among  the  numerous  conjectures  on  the 
origin  of  the  natives  of  America,  has  found 
advocates  not  deficient  in  learning  or  talents, 
however  weak  may  be  the  foundation  on  which 
their  reasoning  rests.* 

*  This  much  agitated  topic  still  remains  one  of  "  the 
vexed  questions  "  of  historical  criticism.  The  theory  es- 
poused by  Mr.  Eliot  was  zealously  defended  by  Adair,  and 
more  recently  by  Dr.  Boudinot  in  his  ':  Star  in  the  West." 
I  find  that  in  Allen's  Biographical  Dictionary,  and  in 
Holmes's  American  Annals  (second  edit.  Vol.  L  p.  434),  a 
work  on  this  subject  is  ascribed  to  Eliot,  entitled  "  The 
Jews  in  America."  This,  however,  is  a  mistake.  Thomas 
Thorowgood,  one  of  the  Assembly  of  Divines,  published  at 
London,  in  1650,  a  work  entitled  "Jewes  in  America,  or 
Probabilities  that  the  Americans  are  of  that  Race,"  &c. 
To  this  book  Cotton  Mather  alludes  in  one  of  his  poor  puns, 
when  he  says,  that  Eliot  "  saw  some  learned  men  looking- 
for  the  lost  Israelites  among  the  Indians  in  America,  and 
counting  that  they  had  thorow-good  reasons  for  doing  so." 
In  1660  a  second  part  of  Thorowgood's  work  was  published 
in  London,  with  the  title,  "  Jewes  in  America ;  or  Proba- 
bilities that  those  Indians  are  Judaical,  made  more  probable 
by  some  Additionals  to  the  former  Conjectures."  To  this 
part  "  an  accurate  Discourse  is  premised  by  Mr.  John  Eliot 
(who  first  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  Natives  in  their  own 


40  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Mr.  Eliot  had  been  for  some  time  assiduously 
employed  in  learning  the  Indian  language.  To 
accomplish  this,  he  secured  the  assistance  of 
one  of  the  natives,  who  could  speak  English. 
Eliot,  at  the  close  of  his  Indian  Grammar, 
mentions  him  as  "  a  pregnant-witted  young 
man,  who  had  been  a  servant  in  an  English 
house,  who  pretty  well  understood  his  own 
language,    and    had    a   clear   pronunciation."  * 

Language)  touching  their  Origination,  and  his  Vindication 
of  the  Planters."  See  Rich's  valuable  "  Catalogue  of 
Books  relating  principally  to  America,"  Part  I.  p.  86.  The 
connexion  of  Mr.  Eliot's  name  with  the  book,  by  means  of 
his  "  Discourse,"  was  probably  the  occasion  of  the  work 
being  erroneously  ascribed  to  him. 

*  Mr.  Eliot  had  previously  spoken  of  him  in  a  letter 
written  in  1648.  "  There  is,"  he  says,  "  an  Indian  living 
with  Mr.  Richard  Calicott  of  Dorchester,  who  was  taken  in 
the  Pequott  Warres,  though  belonging  to  Long  Island  ; 
this  Indian  is  ingenious,  can  read  ;  and  I  taught  him  to 
write,  which  he  quickly  learnt,  though  I  know  not  what  use 
he  now  maketh  of  it ;  he  ivas  the  first  that  I  made  use  of  to 
teach  me  words  and  to  be  my  Interpreter."  This  young 
man  was  then  about  to  join  the  church  in  Dorchester.  — 
Winslow's  Glorious  Progresse  of  the  Gospel,  p.  19.  The 
name  of  this  Indian  is  supposed  by  Drake  (Book  of  the 
Indians,  b.  II.  p.  Ill)  to  have  been  Job  Nesutan;  and  for 
this  he  quotes  the  authority  of  Gookin's  History,  fyc.  of  the 
Christian  Indians.  Bat  Gookin's  assertion  does  not  prove 
so  much.  He  says,  that  Job  Nesutan  "  was  a  very  good 
linguist  in  the  English  tongue,  and  was  Mr.  Eliot's  assist- 
ant and  interpreter  in  his  translation  of  the  Bible  and  other 
books  in  the  Indian  language."  Whether  he  was  Eliot's 
first  teacher  in  the  language  does  not  appear;  it  is  not 
improbable,  however,  that  he  was. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  41 

He  took  this  Indian  into  his  family,  and  by- 
constant  intercourse  with  him  soon  became 
sufficiently  conversant  with  the  vocabulary  and 
construction  of  the  language  to  translate  the 
ten  commandments,  the  Lord's  prayer,  and 
several  passages  of  Scripture,  besides  compos- 
ing exhortations  and  prayers. 

Here  was  a  task,  which  must  have  been 
formidable  enough  to  discourage  any  one, 
whose  motives  had  been  those  of  mere  curi- 
osity. The  language,  which  this  devoted  man 
resolved  to  acquire  as  an  instrument  to  be  used 
in  the  cause  of  religion,  mast  have  present- 
ed appalling  difficulties.  The  Indian  tongues 
have  of  late  years  been  made  a  subject  of  curi- 
ous inquiry  by  learned  philologists.  For  a  long 
time  it  had  been  customary  to  describe  them 
as  wretchedly  poor  and  meagre  dialects,  com- 
posed only  of  barbarous  and  irregular  jargon 
This  is  found  to  be  an  entire  mistake,  with  re- 
spect to  the  languages  both  of  the  northern 
and  southern  tribes.  They  are  represented  to 
be  copiously  expressive  in  their  stock  of  words, 
and  remarkably  regular  in  their  structure. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  scanty  fund  of 
ideas  in  the  mind  of  the  savage,  and  however 
it  may  be  supposed  that  these  must  be  con- 
fined to  the  obvious  forms  and  phenomena  of 
material  things,  yet  the  fact  that  the  whole 
Bible  could  be  translated  into  his  language  and 

E2 


42  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

be  made  intelligible  to  him,  affords  sufficient 
evidence,  that  moral  relations  and  even  meta- 
physical ideas  could  be  adequately  expressed 
in  his  speech,  however  destitute  it  might  be  of 
the  polished  refinement,  or  the  critical  precis- 
ion, belonging  to  the  tongues  of  civilized  na- 
tions. The  long  words,  which  are  found  in 
the  Indian  languages  present  indeed  a  formida- 
ble aspect,  and  seem  to  set  pronunciation  at 
defiance.  Cotton  Mather,  who  loved  a  jest 
and  superstition  about  equally  well,  thought 
they  must  have  been  growing  ever  since  the 
confusion  at  Babel.  He  tells  us  in  the  same 
breath,  that  he  once  put  some  demons  upon 
their  skill  in  the  tongues,  and  found  that 
though  they  could  manage  to  understand  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Hebrew  very  well,  they  were 
utterly  baffled  by  the  speech  of  the  American 
natives.  The  language,  which  thus  sorely 
puzzled  the  demons,  has  been  discovered  by 
the  inquiries  of  indefatigable  scholars  to  be  an 
important  branch  of  grammatical  research.* 

*  For  information  concerning  the  Indian  languages, 
which  exhibit  many  curious  and  remarkable  phenomena, 
the  reader  is  referred  to  the  labors  of  those  accomplished 
American  scholars,  Pickering  and  Duponceau,  in  their 
Observations  and  Notes  on  Eliofs  Indian  Grammar, 
(2  M.  H.  Coll.  IX.  223,  &c);  the  Correspondence  between 
Heckewelder  and  Duponceau  (Transactions  of  the  Hist. 
and  Lit.  Com.  of  the  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  I.  357-448) ;  Edwards's 
Observations,  (2  M.  H.  Coll.  X.  81-134),  to  which  Dugald 


JOHN     ELIOT.  43 

Mr.  Eliot  must  have  found  his  task  any  thing 
but  easy  or  inviting.  He  was  to  learn  a  dia- 
lect, in  which  he  could  be  assisted  by  no  affin- 
ity with  the  languages  he  already  knew.  He 
was  to  do  this  without  the  help  of  any  written 
or  printed  specimens,  with  nothing  in  the  shape 
of  a  grammar  or  analysis,  but  merely  by  oral 
communication  with  his  Indian  instructer,  or 
with  other  natives,  who,  however  comparatively 
intelligent,  must  from  the  nature  of  the  case 
have  been  very  imperfect  teachers.  He  applied 
himself  to  the  work  with  great  patience  and 
sagacity,  carefully  noting  the  differences  be- 
tween the  Indian  and  the  English  modes  of 
constructing  words ;  and,  having  once  got  a 
clew  to  this,  he  pursued  every  noun  and  verb 
he  could  think  of  through  all  possible  varia- 
tions. In  this  way  he  arrived  at  analyses  and 
rules,  which  he  could  apply  for  himself  in  a 
general   manner. 

Neal  says,  that  Eliot  was  able  to  speak  the 
language  intelligibly  after  conversing  with  the 

Stewart  refers  with  much  interest  in  the  third  volume  of 
his  Philosophy ;  and  the  Appendix  to  the  sixth  volume  of 
the  Encyclopaedia  Americana.  The  celebrated  German 
work,  Mithridates,  oder  allgemeine  Sprachenkunde,  fyc,  by 
Adelung-,  Vater,  and  Humboldt,  is  a  wonderful  treasury  of 
research.  Roger  Williams's  Key  into  the  Language  of 
America,  reprinted  by  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Soci- 
ety, in  1827,  as  well  as  Eliot's  Grammar,  affords  valuable 
aid  in  these  carious  inquiries. 


44  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Indian  servant  a  few  months.*  This  in  a  limited 
sense  may  be  true;  but  he  is  said  to  have  been 
engaged  two  years  in  the  process  of  learning, 
before  he  went  to  preach  to  the  Indians.  In 
that  time  he  acquired  a  somewhat  ready  facility 
in  the  use  of  that  dialect,  by  means  of  which  he 
was  to  carry  the  instructions  of  spiritual  truth 
to  the  men  of  the  forest,  though  as  late  as 
1649  he  still  lamented  his  want  of  skill  in  this 
respect. 

When  we  consider  the  irksomeness  of  the 
effort  to  learn,  at  the  middle  age  of  life,  a  new 
tongue,  remote  in  its  character  and  derivation 
from  any  already  known  to  us,  even  with  all  the 
aids  of  well-prepared  books  and  trained  instruc- 
ted, we  may  form  some  estimate  of  the  invin- 
cible perseverance,  the  unwearied  zeal,  which 
could  impel  Mr.  Eliot  to  undertake,  alone  and 
under  every  discouragement  and  difficulty,  to 
explore  a  dialect,  that  not  only  had  no  literary 
treasures  to  reward  his  toil,  but  was  merely 
the  unwritten  medium  of  intercourse  among  the 
squalid  and  barbarous  natives  of  the  wilder- 
ness. Nothing  but  the  sustaining  influence  of 
a  pious  purpose,  joined  with  great  natural  en- 
ergy of  spirit,  could  have  carried  him  through 
so  heavy  a  labor.  In  the  annals  of  literary 
industry  it  is  related  of  Cato,  that  he  learned 
Greek  at  an  advanced  age,  and  of  Dr.  Johnson^ 

#  History  of  New  England,  Vol.  I.  p.  242. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  45 

that  he  studied  Dutch  a  few  years  before  his 
death.  In  these  cases  there  were  abundant 
helps  and  allurements.  But  a  more  honorable 
fact  is  recorded  of  John  Eliot,  when  it  is  told 
that  he  found  his  way,  through  so  many  ob- 
stacles, to  the  acquisition  of  a  language,  which 
offered  nothing  to  gratify  taste  or  to  impart 
wisdom,  solely  that  he  might  use  the  spoken 
and  written  word  for  his  God  and  his  Savior. 
Well  might  he  say,  as  he  does  with  pious 
simplicity  of  heart  at  the  end  of  his  Indian 
Grammar,  "  Prayer  and  pains  through  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus  will  do  any  thing." 


46  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Eliot1  s  First  Visits  to  the   Indians  at  Nonantum. 

Mr.  Eliot's  mental  powers  had  now  reached 
the  maturity  of  their  strength  ;  his  habits  of 
judgment  were  well  formed  and  ripened  ;  his 
zeal  in  the  service  of  religion  had  by  long  ex- 
ercise grown  into  a  deep  as  well  as  fervent 
principle  of  action.  He  was  in  the  forty-second 
year  of  his  age,  when  he  began  to  devote  him- 
self to  the  work  of  preaching  Christianity  to 
the  natives  of  New  England.  From  the  interest 
he  had  taken  in  their  language  and  their  wel- 
fare he  was  no  stranger  to  such  of  the  Indians, 
as  might  be  found  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Roxbury.  It  may  be  presumed,  that  he  had 
already  by  personal  acquaintance  gained  the 
respect,  perhaps  the  affection  of  some  among 
them.  It  wrould  seem  from  his  own  account, 
that  he  had  frequently  conversed  with  the  In- 
dians on  topics  relating  to  their  improvement, 
before  he  visited  them  at  their  dwellings. 
Some  of  them  were  so  struck  with  the  advan- 
tages of  the  habits  of  civilized  life,  that  tney 
were  desirous  of  adopting  the  customs  of  the 
English.  They  expressed  their  belief,  that  in 
forty   years    many   of   their   people    would    be 


JOHN     ELIOT  47 

"  all  one "  with  the  English,  and  that  in  a 
hundred  years  they  would  all  be  so.  They 
hoped  to  coalesce  with  the  white  man,  instead 
of  vanishing  before  him.  Eliot  was  much  af- 
fected by  this  declaration.  He  endeavored  to 
make  them  understand,  that  the  causes  of  the 
superiority  of  the  English  were  their  posses- 
sion of  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  and 
their  skilful  industry  in  the  mechanical  arts, 
and  in  providing  for  themselves  the  comforts 
of  life  by  regular  labor.  They  then  lamented 
their  ignorance  of  God,  and  wished  to  be 
taught  how  they  might  serve  him.  Eliot,  glad 
to  find  their  interest  thus  excited,  told  them 
he  would  visit  them  at  their  wigwams,  and  in- 
struct them,  together  with  their  wives  and 
children,  in  the  truths  of  religion.  This  prom- 
ise they  received  with  much  joy.* 

Notice  having  been  given  of  his  intention, 
Mr.  Eliot  in  company  with  three  others,  whose 
names  are  not  mentioned,  having  implored  the 
divine  blessing  on  the  undertaking,  made  his 
first  visit  to  the  Indians  on  the  28th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1646,  at  a  place  afterwards  called  Nonan- 
tum,  a  spot,  that  has  the  honor  of  being  the 
firsj:,  on  which  a  civilized  and  Christian  settle- 
ment of  Indians  was  effected  within   the   Eng- 

*  Mr.  Eliot's  letter  to  Shepard  in  "  The  Clear  Sun-shine 
of  the  Gospel  breaking  forth  upon  the  Indians  in  New- 
England,"  p.  17. 


48  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

lish  colonies  of  North  America.  This  name 
was  given  to  the  high  grounds  in  the  north- 
east part  of  Newton,  and  to  the  bounds  of  that 
town  and  Watertown.  At  a  short  distance 
from  the  wigwams,  they  were  met  by  Waban, 
a  leading  man  among  the  Indians  at  that  place, 
accompanied  by  others,  and  were  welcomed 
with  "  English  salutations."  *  Waban,  who  is 
described  as  "  the  chief  minister  of  justice 
among  them,"  had  before  shown  a  better  dis- 
position, than  any  other  native,  to  receive  the 
religious  instruction  of  the  Christians,  and  had 
voluntarily  proposed  to  have  his  eldest  son 
educated  by  them.  His  son  had  been  accord- 
ingly placed  at  school  in  Dedham,  whence  he 
had  now  come  to  attend  the  meeting. 

The  Indians  assembled  in  Waban's  wigwam; 
and  thither  Mr.  Eliot  and  his  friends  were  con- 
ducted. When  the  company  were  all  collected 
and  quiet,  a  religious  service  was  begun  with 
prayer.  This  was  uttered  in  English  ;  the 
reason  for  which,  as  given  by  Mr.  Eliot  and 
his  companions,  was,  that  he  did  not  then  feel 

*  Mr.  Carne,  who  permits  imagination,  in  some  in- 
stances, to  take  the  place  of  sober  history,  describes  Mr. 
Eliot  as  approaching  the  Indians  with  "  his  translation  of 
the  Scriptures,  like  a  calumet  of  peace  and  love,  in  his 
hand."  —  Lives  of  Eminent  Missionaries,  Vol.  I.  p.  10.  Mr. 
Carne  should  have  remembered  that  the  translation  was 
not  accomplished  till  many  years  after  this  event. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  49 

sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  Indian  lan- 
guage to  use  it  in  that  service.  The  scruple 
may,  at  first  sight,  seem  overstrained,  when  we 
remember  that  the  meaning  of  the  heart,  not 
the  words  of  the  lips,  constitute  the  essence  of 
prayer.  But  the  good  man  doubtless  deemed 
it  irreverent  to  use  in  an  exercise  of  devotion 
those  imperfect  expressions,  which  might  pos- 
sibly convey  improper  or  defective  ideas  to  the 
rude  minds  of  his  hearers ;  an  effect  which, 
especially  at  the  outset,  he  would  justly  think 
was  by  all  means  to  be  avoided.  The  same 
difficulty  would  not  occur  in  preaching,  since 
for  this,  we  may  suppose,  he  had  sufficiently  pre- 
pared his  thoughts  and  expressions  to  make  his 
discourse  intelligible  on  all  important  points  ; 
and  if  he  should,  in  some  parts,  fail  of  being 
understood,  he  could  repeat  or  correct  himself, 
till  he  should  succeed  better.  Besides,  he 
took  with  him  an  interpreter,  who  was  fre- 
quently able  to  express  his  instructions  more 
distinctly,  than  he  could  himself.  Though  the 
prayer  was  unintelligible  to  the  Indians,  yet, 
as  they  knew  what  the  nature  of  the  service 
was,  Mr.  Eliot  believed  it  might  be  not  without 
an  effect  in  subduing  their  feelings  so  as  to 
prepare  them  better  to  listen  to  the  preaching. 
It  was  moreover  intended  as  an  exercise  of  the 
heart  for  himself  and  his  brethren,  with  regard 
to  the  duty  before  them. 

vol.  v.  4  Y 


50  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Mr.  Eliot  then  began  his  sermon,  or  ad- 
dress, from  Ezek.  xxxvu.  9,  10.  The  word 
wind,  in  this  passage  suggested  to  the  minds 
of  some,  who  afterwards  gave  an  account  of 
this  meeting,  a  coincidence  which  might,  in 
the  spirit  of  the  times,  be  construed  into  a 
special  appointment  of  Providence.  The  name 
of  Waban  signified,  in  the  Indian  tongue,  wind-, 
so  that  when  the  preacher  uttered  the  words, 
"  say  to  the  wind,"  it  was  as  if  he  had  pro- 
claimed, "  say  to  Waban"  As  this  man  after- 
wards exerted  much  influence  in  awaking  the 
attention  of  his  fellow  savages  to  Christiani- 
ty, it  might  seem  that  in  this  first  visit  of 
the  messengers  of  the  gospel  he  was  singled 
out  by  a  special  call  to  work  in  the  cause.  It 
is  not  surprising  that  the  Indians  were  struck 
with  the  coincidence.  Mr.  Eliot  gave  no  coun- 
tenance to  a  superstitious  use  of  the  circum- 
stance, and  took  care  to  tell  them  that,  when 
he  chose  his  text,  he  had  no  thought  of  any 
such  application.* 

In  his  discourse  from  this  passage,  the 
preacher  stated  and  explained  to  the  untaught 
minds  of  the  assembly  some  of  the  leading 
truths  of  natural  religion,  and  of  Christianity. 
He  repeated  the  ten  commandments  with  brief 
comments,  and  set  forth  the  fearful  conse- 
quences of  violating   them,  with  special  appli- 

*  Shepard's  Clear  Sunshine  of  the  Gospel,  fyc.,  p.  33. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  51 

cations  to  the  condition  of  his  audience.  He 
spoke  of  the  creation  and  fall  of  man,  the 
greatness  of  God,  the  means  of  salvation  by 
Jesus  Christ,  the  happiness  of  faithful  believ- 
ers, and  the  final  misery  of  the  wicked,  adding 
such  persuasions  to  repentance  as  he  supposed 
might  touch  their  hearts.  He  did  not  choose 
to  take  up  more  abstruse  matters,  till  he  had 
given  his  untutored  hearers  a  taste  of  "  plain 
and  familiar  truths."  Of  the  topics  which  have 
been  mentioned,  though  high  and  difficult  in 
themselves,  the  preacher  probably  presented 
only  the  most  simple  points,  illustrated  by 
homely  explanations.  The  sermon  was  an  hour 
and  a  quarter  long.  One  cannot  but  suspect, 
that  Mr.  Eliot  injudiciously  crowded  too  much 
into  one  address.  It  would  seem  to  have  been 
better,  for  the  first  time  at  least,  to  have  given 
a  shorter  sermon,  and  to  have  touched  upon 
fewer  subjects.  But  he  was  doubtless  borne 
on  by  his  zeal  to  do  much  in  a  good  cause, 
and,  as  we  have  reason  to  think,  by  the  atten- 
tive, though  vague,  curiosity  of  the  Indians. 

The  scene  presents  itself  to  our  imaginations 
as  one  of  deep  interest.  Here  was  a  gifted 
scholar,  educated  amidst  the  classic  shades  of 
an  English  university,  exiled  from  his  native 
land  for  conscience'  sake,  a  man  of  high  dis- 
tinction in  the  churches  of  New  England, 
standing   among  the  humble  and  rude  huts  of 


52  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

the  forest,  surrounded  by  a  peaceful  group  of 
savages,  on  whose  countenances  might  be 
traced  the  varieties  of  surprise,  belief,  vacan- 
cy, and  perhaps  half-suppressed  scorn,  seeking 
to  find  some  points  of  intercourse  between  his 
own  cultivated  mind  and  their  gross  concep- 
tions, that  spiritual  truth  might  enter  into  their 
hearts,  and  leave  its  light  and  blessing  there. 
The  communication  of  Christian  instruction  in 
such  a  place,  and  under  such  circumstances, 
has  an  affecting  significance.  To  use  the  beau- 
tiful illustration  in  the  original  narrative  of 
this  visit,  it  was  breaking  the  alabaster  box 
of  precious  ointment  in  the  dark  and  gloomy 
habitations  of  the  unclean. 

Our  natural  curiosity  to  know  how  this  dis- 
course was  received  can  be  in  some  measure 
gratified.  When  the  sermon  was  ended,  Mr. 
Eliot  asked  the  Indians  whether  they  under- 
stood what  he  had  said.  Many  voices  at  once 
answered  in  the  affirmative.  They  were  then 
requested  to  propose  any  questions,  which 
might  have  occurred  to  them  in  connexion 
with  the  discourse.  This  drew  from  them 
the  following  queries.  First ;  how  they  might 
be  brought  to  know  Jesus  Christ.  Second  ; 
whether  God  or  Jesus  Christ  could  understand 
prayers  in  the  Indian  language.  Third;  wheth- 
er there  ever  wTas  a  time,  when  the  English 
were    as   ignorant   of  divine   things    as    them- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  53 

selves.  Fourth;  how  could  there  be  an  image 
of  God,  since  it  was  forbidden  in  the  fourth 
commandment.  Fifth;  whether,  if  a  father  be 
bad  and  his  child  good,  God  will  be  offended 
with  the  child  ;  a  question  referring  to  what  is 
said  in  the  second  commandment.  Sixth;  how 
came  the  world  so  full  of  people,  if  they  were 
all  once  drowned  in  the  flood.  These  inquiries 
seem  natural,  and  some  of  them  indicate  a 
more  attentive  state  of  mind,  and  deeper  re- 
flection, than  could  have  been  expected.  The 
second  question  affords  a  striking  instance  of 
the  views,  which  men  in  the  lowest  stage  of 
culture  entertain  of  the  attributes  of  the  Deity. 
It  arose  from  the  circumstance,  that  one  of  the 
Indians,  while  praying  in  his  own  language, 
was  interrupted  by  another,  who  told  him  it 
was  useless  to  pray  except  in  English,  because 
prayers  in  the  Indian  tongue  would  not  be 
understood  by  a  Being,  who  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  hear  them  only  in  English.  This 
anecdote  is  valuable  as  an  illustration  of  the 
manner,  in  which  the  religious  sentiment  is 
developed  among  savage  tribes.  The  fifth 
question  is  not  without  interest,  as  exhibiting 
a  tendency  to  more  precise  ideas  of  moral  jus- 
tice, than  are  commonly  found  in  the  specu- 
lations of  uncivilized  man.  All  these  que- 
ries were  answered  by  their  visiters  somewhat 
at    length,    and    with    a    judiciously    directed 

F2 


04  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

endeavor   to   meet   and   satisfy   their   state   of 
mind. 

Mr.  Eliot  and  his  companions,  wishing  to 
interest  and  enlighten  them  still  further,  pro- 
posed in  their  turn  a  few  questions,  adapted  to 
draw  out  their  thoughts  respecting  what  they 
had  heard.  They  asked  the  Indians,  whether 
they  would  not  like  to  see  God,  and  whether 
they  were  not  tempted  to  doubt  of  his  exist- 
ence, because  they  could  not  see  him.  To  this 
some  of  them  replied,  that,  although  an  actual 
sight  of  this  great  Being  would  please  them 
much,  yet  they  believed  he  was  not  to  be  seen 
with  the  eyes  of  the  body,  but  by  "  their  soul 
within."  The  answer  implies  a  wise  and 
thoughtful  recognition  of  a  great  principle  ; 
but  it  may  have  been  only  the  verbal  repetition 
of  what  they  had  learned.  Mr.  Eliot  then 
asked  them  whether  they  found  no  difficulty  in 
believing,  that  one  God  should  be  in  many 
different  and  distant  places  at  the  same  time. 
Their  reply  was,  that  it  did  seem  strange  to 
them,  yet  they  thought  it  might  be  true.  Their 
instructer  happily  illustrated  this  point  to  their 
apprehensions  by  comparing  the  divine  omni- 
presence to  the  light  of  the  sun,  which,  while 
it  shone  in  one  wigwam,  shone  also  in  the 
next,  and  all  over  Massachusetts,  and  across 
the  big  waters  in  old  England  also.  He  next 
inquired  of  them,  whether,  when  they  had  done 


JOHN     ELIOT.  55 

wrong,  they  did  not  feel  trouble  within,  and 
where  they  hoped  to  find  comfort  when  they 
should  die.  This  appeal  to  the  inextinguish- 
able power  of  the  moral  faculty  in  the  human 
breast,  and  to  the  sentiment  of  immortality, 
was  answered  by  the  confession,  that  they  did 
feel  distressed  when  they  had  sinned,  and  that 
they  wished  for  further  light  on  the  subject  ; 
"  for,"  says  the  account,  "  some  knowledge  of 
the  immortality  of  the  soul  almost  all  of  them 
have."  Their  reply  gave  their  teacher  an 
opportunity  to  aim  some  pungent  remarks  at 
their  consciences  and  their  fears. 

Thus  ended  a  conference  three  hours  long, 
at  the  end  of  which  the  Indians  affirmed  that 
they  were  not  weary,  and  requested  their 
visiters  to  come  again.  They  expressed  a 
wish  to  build  a  town  and  live  together.  Mr. 
Eliot  promised  to  intercede  for  them  with  the 
court.  He  and  his  companions  then  gave  the 
men  some  tobacco,  and  the  children  some 
apples,  and  bade  them  farewell. 

A  fortnight  afterwards,  on  the  11th  of  No- 
vember, Mr.  Eliot  and  his  friends  repeated 
their  visit  to  the  wigwam  of  Waban.  This 
meeting  was  more  numerous  than  the  former 
The  religious  service  was  opened,  as  before, 
with  a  prayer  in  English.  This  was  followed 
by  a  few  brief  and  plain  questions  addressed 
to    the    children,    admitting    short    and    easy 


56  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

answers.  The  children  seemed  well  disposed 
to  listen  and  learn.  To  encourage  them,  Mr. 
Eliot  gave  them  occasionally  an  apple  or  a 
cake ;  *  and  the  adults  were  requested  to  re- 
peat to  them  the  instructions  that  had  been 
given.  He  then  preached  to  the  assembly  in 
their  own  language,  telling  them  that  he  had 
come  to  bring  them  good  news  from  God,  and 
show  them  how  wicked  men  might  become 
good  and  happy,  and  in  general  discoursing  on 
nearly  the  same  topics  as  he  had  treated  at  his 
first  visit. 

This  was  succeeded  by  conversation,  in 
which  questions  were  proposed  and  answered. 
One  aged  Indian  touched  the  feelings  of  his 
instructers  by  asking  whether  it  were  not  too 
late  for  such  an  old  man  as  he  to  repent  and 
seek  God.  Their  reply  was  an  appropriate 
illustration  of  the  paternal  mercy  of  the  divine 
character.  They  told  the  aged  savage,  that,  as 
a  good  father  is  always  glad  to  welcome  home 
a  son  penitent  for  the  wrong  he  has  done,  so 
God  would  at  no  time  refuse  to  pardon  and 
receive  one  of  his  repenting  children.  Some 
of  the  assembly  then  desired  to  know  how  it 
happened,  that  the  English  differed  so  much 
from  the  Indians  in  their  knowledge  of  God, 
since    they    all    had    one    common    Father  ;    a 

#  This  pleasant  little  circumstance  is  mentioned  by 
Winthrop,  Vol.  II.  p.  304. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  57 

question  which  furnished  Mr.  Eliot  with  an 
opportunity  to  give  them  some  explanation  of 
the  religious  history  of  mankind.  Another  in- 
quiry was,  how  they  might  be  brought  to  serve 
God ;  in  answer  to  which  they  wTere  told,  that 
they  must  first  feel  their  unworthiness,  then 
seek  forgiveness,  and  strive  to  know  God's 
will,  as  a  dutiful  child  would  seek  to  know  his 
father's  will.  A  fourth  question  was  proposed, 
which  indicated  a  curiosity  about  natural  phe- 
nomena. How  comes  it  to  pass,  said  they, 
that  the  sea  water  is  salt,  and  the  land  water 
fresh  ?  The  reply  was,  that  it  was  God's 
pleasure  to  make  them  so,  in  the  same  way  as 
strawberries  are  sweet  and  cranberries  sour, 
for  which  there  is  no  reason  except  that  the 
Creator  so  constituted  them.  However,  an  at- 
tempt was  made  to  explain  the  natural  causes 
and  uses  of  the  fact  in  question ;  but  these,  it 
is  stated,  were  "  less  understood."  This  was 
followed  by  another  question  of  a  like  charac- 
ter, namely,  If  the  water  be  higher  than  the 
earth,  why  does  it  not  overflow  the  earth  ? 
To  meet  this  difficulty,  their  visiters  held  up 
an  apple,  and  "  showed  them  how  the  earth 
and  water  made  one  round  globe,  like  that 
apple  ;  "  and  they  compared  the  sea  to  a  great 
hole  or  ditch,  into  which  when  water  is  poured, 
it  is  confined,  and  cannot  overflow.  The  last 
point  they  proposed  was  a  question  of  casuistry ; 


58  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

If  an  Indian  should  steal  goods,  and  not  be 
punished  by  the  sachem  or  by  any  law,  and 
then  should  restore  the  goods,  would  all  be 
well  and  right,  or  would  God  still  punish  him 
for  his  theft  ?  They  were  taught,  that  such 
conduct  would  be  an  offence  to  God,  who,  if  it 
were  not  repented  of,  would  punish  the  trans- 
gressor, even  if  he  should  escape  punishment 
from  man.  There  was  a  higher  law,  than  hu- 
man law,  to  which  they  must  answer  for  their 
conduct. 

When  the  Indians  had  made  an  end  of  their  in- 
quiries, Mr.  Eliot  and  his  companions  proposed 
to  them  only  two  questions,  the  object  of  which 
was  to  discover  whether  they  remembered  and 
believed  what  they  had  heard.  The  meeting 
was  closed  with  prayer.  This  was  expressed 
in  the  Indian  language,  chiefly  for  the  reason 
that  some  doubt  had  formerly  been  raised 
whether  prayers  in  that  tongue  were  under- 
stood in  Heaven ;  a  doubt  which  was  probably 
strengthened  by  Mr.  Eliot's  practice  at  the 
first  meeting.  During  the  devotional  exercise, 
one  of  the  assembly  was  deeply  affected,  even 
to  tears,  illustrating  the  fine  remark  of  Madame 
de  Stael,  that  "  to  pray  together,  in  whatever 
language  and  according  to  whatever  ritual  it 
may  be,  is  the  most  affecting  bond  of  hope  and 
sympathy,  which  man  can  contract  on  earth." 
After  the  prayer,  the  English  visiters  had  some 


JOHN      ELIOT.  59 

conversation  with  this  man,  when  he  wept  still 
more,  and  seemed  pierced  to  the  heart  by  the 
pungent  power  of  divine  truth.  The  fervent 
appeals  and  the  touching  descriptions  in  Eliot's 
preaching  may  well  be  supposed  to  have  stirred 
up  strong  emotions  in  a  rude  breast,  brought 
for  the  first  time  to  feel,  however  confusedly, 
the  reality  of  spiritual  things  ;  and  in  that  ex- 
citement might  be  the  germ  of  an  inward  life, 
which  needed  only  time  and  opportunity  to 
grow  into  fulness  and  strength.  The  whole 
afternoon  was  spent  in  this  visit ;  and  as 
nightfall  approached,  Mr.  Eliot  and  the  others 
returned  to  their  homes. 

A  third  interview  with  these  Indians  took 
place  on  the  26th  of  November,  at  which  the 
writer  of  the  narrative  before  referred  to  was 
not  present.  He  has  however  given  a  brief 
account  of  it,  which  he  had  from  Mr.  Eliot, 
"  the  man  of  God,"  as  he  calls  him,  "who  then 
preached  to  them."  Some  impediments  had 
been  thrown  in  the  way  of  the  good  work  since 
the  last  meeting  by  persuasions  and  menaces. 
Neal  ascribes  this  mischievous  interference  to 
the  powaws  or  priests.*  But  Eliot's  account 
does  not  specify  them  particularly ;  though  it 
is  natural  to  suppose  that  their  agency  was  not 
wanting  in  the  business.  This  circumstance 
gave  the  preacher  occasion  to  warn  the  Indians 

*  History  of  New  England,  Vol.  I.  p.  244. 


60  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

against  the  temptations  of  the  Devil ;  which, 
as  the  account  affirms,  he  did  with  great  pun- 
gency and  effect.  The  Indians  were  more 
serious  than  ever.  Among  the  questions  they 
started  were  the  following;  Whether  it  were 
lawful,  as  some  of  their  people  affirmed,  to 
pray  to  the  Devil ;  what  was  meant  by  humili- 
ation ;  why  the  English  called  them  Indians ; 
what  a  spirit  is ;  whether  dreams  are  to  be 
believed.  To  all  which,  as  the  narrative  states, 
they  had  fit  answers  ;  but  these  are  not  given. 
On  the  Saturday  night  after  this  third  meet- 
ing, a  judicious  Indian,  by  the  name  of  Wampas, 
went  as  a  messenger  from  Nonantum  to  Mr. 
Eliot's  house  in  Roxbury.  He  took  with  him 
his  own  son,  and  three  other  children.  He 
asked  permission  to  leave  them  with  the  Eng- 
lish, that  they  might  be  educated  to  know 
God  ;  for,  he  said,  if  they  remained  at  home, 
they  would  grow  up  in  rudeness  and  wicked- 
ness. The  children  were  at  the  ages  of  four, 
five,  eight,  and  nine  years.  What  became  of 
them  we  know  not.  We  only  learn  that  Wam- 
pas received  a  promise,  with  which  he  was 
satisfied,  that  his  request  should  be  complied 
with  as  soon  as  convenience  would  permit. 
This  would  seem  to  have  presented  a  favorable 
opportunity  for  trying  the  experiment  of  a 
Christian  education  upon  Indian  children;  and 
it  would  be  gratifying  to  learn  the  result. 


JOHN     ELIOT,  61 

Wampas  was  attended  by  two  young  and 
strong  Indians,  who  wished  to  find  employ- 
ment as  servants  in  English  families,  that  they 
might  be  in  the  way  of  knowing  and  enjoying 
the  true  religion.  These  were  among  the  num- 
ber, who  had  appeared  deeply  affected  at  the 
Nonantum  meetings.  How  long  their  good 
impressions  lasted,  we  are  not  informed ;  but 
situations  were  obtained  for  them  in  families, 
according  to  their  request. 

Mr.  Eliot  experienced  great  satisfaction  in 
being  informed  of  the  zeal  of  Waban.  On  the 
night  after  the  third  meeting,  this  man  had 
been  heard  by  an  English  youth  instructing 
his  company  in  the  truths  they  had  listened  to 
from  the  preacher  that  day ;  and,  when  he 
awoke  in  the  night,  he  would  be  continually 
praying  and  exhorting.  Eliot's  companion  ex- 
presses his  belief,  that  this  man  might  become 
an  instrument  of  great  usefulness,  but  still  does 
not  conceal  his  apprehension  that  "  cowardice 
or  witchery  "  might  blast  the  hopeful  promise 
in  this,  as  in  some  other  cases  ;  a  fear,  which 
in  the  instance  of  Waban  was  not  realized. 

It  is  further  related,  that  the  old  man,  who 
asked  the  affecting  question  at  the  second 
meeting,  had  six  sons,  one  of  whom,  and  his 
wife,  were  powaws.  These  had  resolved  to 
abandon  their  sorceries  and  to  seek  Christian 
instruction  ;  for  they  now  believed  that  God 

G 


62  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

was  the  only  author  of  good,  and  they  would 
have  nothing  more  to  do  with  Chepian,  that  is, 
the  Devil.  The  young  Indians,  who  had  ac- 
companied Wampas,  explained  to  the  English 
the  manner,  in  which  their  powaws  were  made  ; 
and  it  is  a  somewhat  curious  fact  in  the  history 
of  the  religion  of  barbarous  tribes.  It  seems, 
that  if  any  Indian  happened  to  have  a  certain 
strange  dream,  in  which  Chepian  appeared  to 
him  in  the  form  of  a  serpent,  the  next  day  he 
would  relate  his  dream  to  his  companions. 
This  was  immediately  regarded  by  them  as  an 
intimation  from  the  invisible  world,  that  the 
person  so  visited  in  his  sleep  must  be  made 
a  powaw.  The  Indians  consequently  would 
gather  together,  and  dance  and  rejoice  around 
him  for  two  days.  This  was  considered  as  his 
institution  in  the  office  of  priest;  and  thence- 
forth his  chief  business  was  to  cure  the  sick 
by  magical  powers  and  odd  gesticulations. 
Yet  there  seems  to  have  been  nothing  sacred  in 
his  person  ;  if  a  patient  died  under  his  hands, 
he  was  bitterly  reviled,  and  very  likely  to  be 
killed  by  some  of  the  friends  of  the  deceased, 
especially  if  they  could  not  recover  what  they 
had  paid  for  the  promised  cure  ;  for,  it  ap- 
pears, the  powaw  took  care  to  get  his  fee 
beforehand. 

On  the  9th  of  December  a  fourth  meeting  of 
the  Indians  was   held  at  Nonantum.     Of  this 


JOHN     ELIOT.  63 

we  have  but  a  brief  and  general  account.  It 
is  stated,  that  the  Indians  offered  all  their 
children  to  be  instructed  by  the  English,  and 
lamented  that  they  were  unable  to  pay  any 
thing  for  their  education.  This  suggested  the 
necessity  of  making  preparations  for  establish- 
ing a  school  among  or  near  them ;  an  object 
which  Mr.  Eliot  had  always  much  at  heart,  and 
which  he  rightly  judged  to  be  one  of  the  most 
important  means  of  accomplishing  his  bene\o- 
lent  purposes.  At  this  meeting  a  passage  of 
Scripture  was  explained,  and  applied  to  the 
condition  of  his  hearers.  Questions,  as  before, 
were  proposed  by  both  parties.  One  of  the 
assembly  complained  of  a  new  species  of  perse- 
cution from  his  fellows.  He  stated,  that  they 
reviled  the  Christian  Indians,  and  called  them 
rogues,  for  cutting  off  their  hair  and  wearing 
it  short,  as  the  English  did.  We  discover  an 
amusing  specimen  of  the  notions,  which  then 
prevailed,  when  we  are  told  it  was  considered 
an  evidence  of  the  influence  of  Christianity  on 
the  natives,  that  they  became  sensible  of  "  the 
vanity  and  pride  which  they  placed  in  their 
hair,"  and,  without  any  persuasion,  cut  it  off, 
after  "  the  modest  manner  "  of  their  civilized 
neighbors.  If  we  are  inclined  to  smile  at  this, 
we  should  remember,  that,  in  times  c'a'ming  to 
be  more  enlightened,  other  things,  as  frivolous 
and  indifferent  as  this,  have  been  made  matters 


64  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

of  religious  duty.  It  was  not  long  afterwards, 
that  the  offence  of  wearing  long  hair  became 
so  formidable  in  New  England,  as  to  induce 
grave  magistrates  to  enter  into  a  combination 
for  its  suppression.  Mr.  Eliot,  we  may  pre- 
sume, was  as  decided  an  enemy  to  long  natural 
locks,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see  he  was  to  the 
practice  of  wearing  wigs. 

Our  good  evangelist*  was  much  encouraged 
by  the  evidences  of  piety  in  Waban  and  some 
others.     They  used  in  their  prayers   such  fer- 
vent and  devout  expressions  as  these  ;  "  Take 
away,  Lord,  my  stony  heart ;  wash,   Lord,  my 
soul;  Lord,  lead  me,  when  I  die,  to  heaven." 
These  words   they  had  not,  as  we  might  sus- 
pect, learned  by  rote;  for    their  preacher  af- 
firmed he  had  never  used  them  in  his  prayers 
at  their  meetings.    There  were  indications  of  a 
true  religious  feeling  among  the  Indians,  which 
Eliot  was  thankfully  disposed  to  consider  as 
omens  of  good.     He  and  his  companions,  how- 
ever, were  not  credulous.     They  indulged  with 
caution  and  sobriety  the  hopes  these  meetings 
had   inspired.     They  were  well  aware,  to  use 
the  language  of  their  narrative,  that  "  the  pro- 

*  Mr  Eliot's  modesty  induced  him  earnestly  to  dis- 
claim "the  title  of  evangelist,"  which  he  so  truly  deserved, 
and  which  designates  justly  his  peculiar  labors,  bee 
Whitfield's  Farther  Discovery  of  the  Present  State  of  the 
Indians  in  New  England,  p.  18. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  65 

fession  of  many  is  but  a  mere  paint,  and  their 
best  graces  nothing  but  flashes  and  pangs, 
which  are  suddenly  kindled,  and  as  soon  go 
out  again."  But  they  labored  in  faith ;  for, 
they  said,  "  God  doth  not  usually  send  his 
plough  and  seedsman  to  a  place,  but  there  is 
at  least  some  little  piece  of  good  ground,  al- 
though three  to  one  be  naught."  They  were 
delighted  to  believe,that  the  minds  of  some  of 
the  savages  were  open  to  the  reception  of 
divine  truth,  and  that  by  God's  blessing  the 
good  seed,  sown  in  a  soil  hitherto  dry  and 
barren,  would  yet  spring  up,  and  in  time  yield 
the  true  fruit. 

I  have  ventured  to  be  the  more  particular  in 
describing  these  four  meetings,  which  Eliot 
and  his  associates  had  with  the  Indians  at 
Nonantum,  because  they  were  the  commence- 
ment* of  that  mission,  to  which  he  devoted  so 
large  a  part  of  his  life  and  strength,  and  be- 
cause they  afford,  probably,  a  fair  specimen 
of  his  general  manner  of  instruction.  They 
bear  unequivocal  testimony  to  his   singleness 

*  There  had  indeed  been  a  meeting  at  Cutshamakin's 
wigwam,  near  "  Dorchester  mill,"  six  weeks  before  the  first 
meeting  at  Nonantum;  but  it  amounted  to  little,  and  I 
know  not  that  any  account  of  it  is  to  be  found.  Mr  Eliot 
himself  says,  "  I  first  began  with  the  Indians  of  Noonan- 
etum  "  (Nonantum).  —  Shepard's  Chare  Sun-shine,  fyc, 
p.  17. 

vol,  v.  5  G  2 


66  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

of  heart,  and  to  the  kind  and  faithful  spirit, 
in  which  this  excellent  man  entered  upon  his 
arduous   task.* 

*  For  a  notice  of  the  original  narrative,  from  which  is 
taken  the  above  account  of  the  first  visits  to  Nonantum, 
and  of  other  ancient  tracts  used  in  preparing  this  Me- 
moir, see  Appendix,  No.  I. 

To  this  place  belongs  an  extract  from  the  Roxbury 
Church  Records  in  Eliot's  handwriting,  under  the  year 
1646,  for  which  I  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Putnam,  and  which  may  preserve  for  the  curious  a 
singular  fact  in  the  history  of  our  climate.  It  is  as  fol- 
lows. "  This  winter  was  one  of  the  mildest  that  ever  we 
had  ;  no  snow  all  winter  long,  nor  sharp  weather  ;  but  they 
had  long  floods  at  Connecticut,  which  was  much  [injury] 
to  their  corn  in  the  meadows.  We  never  had  a  bad  day 
to  go  and  preach  to  the  Indians  all  this  winter,  praised 
be  the  Lord." 


JOHN     ELIOT.  67 


CHAPTER    V. 

The  Nonantum  Establishment.  —  Meetings  and 
Eliofs  Preaching  at  Neponset.  —  Cutshamakin. 
—  Questions  and  Difficulties  proposed  by  the 
Indians.  —  Eliot  at  Concord. 

Mr.  Eliot's  care  for  the  Indians  was  not 
confined  to  religious  teaching.  It  was  his 
favorite  and  well-known  opinion,  that  no  per- 
manent good  effect  could  be  produced  by  ef- 
forts for  their  spiritual  welfare,  unless  civiliza- 
tion and  social  improvement  should  precede  or 
accompany  such  efforts.*  In  conformity  with 
this  sound  view  of  the  subject,  he  had  already 
endeavored  to  introduce  among  them  the  bene- 
fits of  a  school.  He  now  aimed  to  soften,  and 
gradually  to  abolish,  their  savage  mode  of  life, 
by  bringing  them  together  under   some  social 

*  This  opinion  he  has  expressed  in  many  passages  of 
his  letters.  The  Reverend  John  Danforth  of  Dorchester, 
who  wrote  verses  consecrated  to  the  memory  of  Eliot,  put 
his  hints  on  this  subject  into  rhyme  ; 

"  Address,  I  pray,  your  senate  for  good  orders 
To  civilize  the  heathen  in  our  borders." 

And  again  ; 

"  We  hope  in  vain  the  plant  of  grace  will  thrive 
In  forests  where  civility  can't  live." 

See  1  M.  H.  Coll.  IX.  176. 


DO  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

arrangement.  The  Indians,  with  Waban  at 
their  head,  formed  the  plan  of  a  settlement, 
and  framed  certain  laws  for  their  own  regula- 
tion. These  laws  are  interesting,  as  specimens 
of  savage  legislation,  and  as  indicating  the 
existing  habits  among  these  people.  They  re- 
late entirely  to  the  promotion  of  decency, 
cleanliness,  industry,  and  good  order.* 

When  the  natives  had  received  a  grant  of 
land  for  the  settlement,  they  next  wished  to 
find  a  name  for  it.  Their  English  friends  ad- 
vised them  to  call  it  Noonatomen  or  Nonan- 
tum,  which  name  was  accordingly  adopted. f 

They  now  began  to  work  very  industriously, 
being  encouraged  and  aided  by  Mr.  Eliot,  who 
promised  to  furnish  them  with  spades,  shovels, 
mattocks,  iron  crows,  &c,  and  to  give  them 
sixpence  a  rod  for  their  work  on  the  ditches 
and  walls.  So  zealous  were  they  in  their  new 
enterprise,  that  he   says   they  called  for  tools 

*  See  Day-Breaking  of  the  Gospell,  Sfc,  p.  22. 

f  The  name  is  variously  written  by  different  authors, 
and  sometimes  by  the  same,  Nonantum,  Nonandem,  Noon- 
atomen, and  Noonanetum.  "  This  towne  the  Indians  did 
desire  to  know  what  name  it  should  have,  and  it  was  told 
them  it  should  bee  called  Noonatomen,  which  signifies  in 
English  rejoycing,  because,  they  hearing  the  word  and  seek- 
ing to  know  God,  the  English  did  rejoyce  at  it,  and  God 
did  rejoyce  at  it,  which  pleased  them  much ;  and  therefore 
that  is  to  be  the  name  of  their  towne." —  The  Day-Breaking; 
of  the  Gospell,  ^c,  p.  22. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  69 

faster  than  he  could  supply  them.  The  wig- 
wams they  built  were  in  a  better  style  than 
formerly.  Before  this  time  they  had  used 
mats  ;  but  now  they  used  the  bark  of  trees  in 
constructing  their  humble  dwellings,  and  had 
in  them  distinct  rooms. 

By  Eliot's  direction  they  fenced  their 
grounds  with  ditches  and  stone  walls,  some 
vestiges  of  which  were  remembered  by  persons 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century.  Their 
women  partook  of  the  spirit  of  improvement, 
and  became  skilful  spinners,  their  good  teach- 
er himself  taking  pains  to  procure  wheels  for 
them.  They  began  to  experience  the  stimulat- 
ing advantages  of  traffic,  and  found  something 
to  carry  to  market  in  the  neighboring  towns. 
In  the  winter  they  sold  brooms,  staves,  eel-pots, 
baskets,  and  turkeys  ;  in  the  summer,  whortle- 
berries, grapes,  and  fish ;  in  the  spring  and 
autumn,  strawberries,  cranberries,  and  venison. 
In  the  season  for  hay  and  harvest,  they  some- 
times worked  on  wages  for  their  English  neigh- 
bors, but  were  not  found  to  be  hardy  and  per- 
severing laborers. 

The  impulse  of  improvement,  however  im- 
perfect, was  strongly  felt.  The  poorest  wig- 
wams among  them  were  equal  to  those  of  the 
princes  or  sachems  in  other  places.  Their  in- 
fant settlement,  rude  and  poor  as  it  must  neces- 
sarily  have   been,  already  began  to  show,  that 


70  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

man,  amidst  the  relations  of  a  community  in 
some  degree  orderly,  working  with  his  own 
hands  for  himself  and  his  family,  is  a  being 
far  superior  to  man  roaming  through  the 
forest  in  reckless  vagrancy,  wTith  no  excitement 
to  industry  in  any  form,  and  dividing  his  time 
between  hunting  and  sleep. 

The  interest,  which  Eliot  took  in  founding 
and  promoting  this  little  establishment,  is 
scarcely  less  honorable  to  his  memory,  than  his 
labors  of  piety.  When  we  thus  see  one,  whose 
talents  and  attainments  fitted  him  to  stand 
with  the  highest  in  the  land,  busying  himself 
in  the  minute  details  of  such  an  enterprise, 
procuring  tools  for  the  men  and  spinning- 
wheels  for  the  women,  advising  and  assisting 
them  with  the  kindness  of  paternal  wisdom  in 
their  new  attempt  at  social  order,  we  cannot 
but  feel,  that  in  the  humblest  work  of  benevo- 
lence, which  man  performs  for  his  fellow  man, 
there  are  the  elements  of  true  moral  greatness. 
We  are  reminded  of  the  excellent  Oberlin,  the 
pastor  of  Waldbach,  whose  life  is  one  of  the 
most  delightful  narratives  in  the  history  of  the 
lowly  but  important  labors  of  devoted  piety. # 

*  Hutchinson  (1.  153),  who  is  followed  in  the  History 
of  .Yeidon  (1  M.  H.  Coll.  V.  259),  says,  that  the  Indians 
built  a  house  for  public  worship  at  Nonantum,  fifty  feet 
long  and  twenty -five  broad,  which  Mr.  Wilson  said,  "ap- 
peared like  the  workmanship  of  an  English  house  wright." 


JOHN     ELIOT.  71 

Thus  was  established  a  company  of  praying 
Indians,  by  which  significant  appellation  the 
converts  to  Christianity  became   distinguished. 

Another  place  for  religious  meetings  and  in- 
struction was  found  at  Neponset,  within  the 
limits  of  Dorchester.  There  our  evangelist 
preached  in  the  wigwam  of  a  sachem  named 
Cutshamakin.  Gookin  informs  us,  that  this 
man  was  the  first  sachem  to  whom  Mr.  Eliot 
preached.  It  is  probable  that  the  operations 
at  Nonantum  and  at  Neponset  were  nearly 
simultaneous  in  their  origin.  They  appear  to 
have  been  carried  on  alternately  for  some  time. 

With  Cutshamakin  the  English  had  entered 
into  a  treaty.  He  was  one  of  the  chiefs,  who 
in  1643  made  a  voluntary  proffer  of  submission 
to  the  government  of  the  colony,  agreeing  to 
observe  their  laws,  on  condition  of  receiving 
the  same  protection  which  was  extended  to 
other  subjects.  When  this  agreement  was 
ratified,  they  were  made  to  understand  the 
articles,  and  "  all  the  ten  commandments  of 
God,"*  to  which  they  gave  a  full  assent.  This 
curious    specimen   of  the   intermixture  of  reli- 

This  I  suppose  to  be  an  erroneous  statement.  I  cannot 
find  that  any  house  for  public  worship  was  built  at  Nonan- 
tum. Wilson's  remark  was  applied  to  the  house  subse- 
quently built  at  Natick,  which  was  of  the  dimensions  here 
given.  I  suppose  Hutchinson  inadvertently  transferred  it 
to  Nonantum. 

*  Savage's   IVinthrop,  Vol.  II.  p.  157. 


72  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

gious  instruction  with  a  civil  negotiation  shows, 
at  least,  a  pious  solicitude  on  the  part  of  our 
fathers  for  the  good  of  the  natives  ;  but,  we 
may  suppose,  the  assent  to  the  ten  command- 
ments was  easily  gained,  if  the  other  articles 
were  satisfactory. 

At  what  time  Cutshamakin  became  a  Chris- 
tian, or  professed  to  be  such,  I  have  not  dis- 
covered. From  the  circumstance  of  Eliot's 
giving  lectures  in  his  wigwam  in  1646,  it  may 
be  presumed,  that  then,  if  not  before,  he  was 
favorably  disposed  towards  the  cause  of  the 
"  praying  Indians."  Mr.  Eliot  relates  an  in- 
teresting case  of  discipline,  which  occurred  in 
this  man's  family.  A  son  of  the  sachem,  fif- 
teen years  old,,  had  been  guilty  of  drunken- 
ness ;  he  had  also  treated  his  parents  with 
contumacy  and  disobedience.  When  instructed 
in  the  Catechism  by  Mr.  Eliot,  in  repeating  the 
fifth  commandment,  he  would  omit  the  word 
mother,  and  was  very  reluctant  to  say  honor  thy 
father.  For  this  conduct  he  was  admonished. 
He  confessed  the  truth  of  what  was  alleged 
against  him,  but  at  the  same  time  accused  his 
father  of  treating  him  angrily,  and  compelling 
him  to  drink  sack.  He  was  severely  rebuked 
by  Eliot  and  Wilson*  for  his  want  of  filial  rev- 
erence, but  without  effect. 

*  Rev.  John  Wilson  of  Boston,  who  sometimes  accom- 
panied Mr.  Eliot. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  73 

They  were  aware,  however,  that  the  son's 
accusations  against  his  father  were  not  ground- 
less. On  the  next  lecture  day,  therefore,  they 
exhorted  Cutshamakin  to  prepare  the  way  for 
his  son's  reformation  by  confessing  his  own 
sins,  of  which,  they  knew,  the  number  was 
neither  few  nor  light.  Being  thus  faithfully 
admonished,  he  honestly  acknowledged  and 
bitterly  lamented  his  offences.  This  example 
had  a  good  effect  on  all  the  Indians  present, 
who  then  joined  their  endeavors  with  those  of 
Eliot  and  Wilson  to  soften  the  son  into  a  peni- 
tent state  of  feeling.  At  last  the  boy  yielded, 
made  the  most  humble  confession,  and,  taking 
his  father's  hand,  entreated  his  forgiveness. 
His  humiliation  overcame  his  parents  so  much, 
that  they  wept  aloud ;  and  the  board  on  which 
the  stern  and  passionate  sachem  stood  was 
wet  with  his  tears.* 

In  this  anecdote,  told  with  Eliot's  charac- 
teristic simplicity,  it  is  delightful  to  recognise 
the  subduing  spirit  of  love  bursting  forth  in 
the  bosom  of  the  savage,  like  a  beautiful  wild- 
flower  from  the  cleft  of  a  rock ;  and  we  cannot 
fail  to  observe  with  pleasure  the  kind,  judi- 
cious, and  patient  discipline,  by  which  Eliot 
and  his   companions  brought   the  heart  of  the 

*  Shepard's  Chare  Sun-shine  of  the  Gospel,  $"c,  p.  21. 

H 


74  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

rebellious  young  savage  into  the  bonds  of  filial 
obedience  and  affection. 

A  remark,  made  by  Cutshamakin  on  one  oc- 
casion, shows  a  thoughtful  and  serious  state  of 
mind.  He  said,  that  before  he  knew  the  true 
God,  he  had  been  at  ease  and  satisfied  with 
himself;  but,  since  that  time,  he  had  found  his 
heart  full  of  sin,  more  so  than  he  had  ever  im- 
agined it  to  be  before ;  "  and  at  this  day,"  he 
continued,  "  my  heart  is  but  very  little  better 
than  it  was,  and  I  am  afraid  it  will  be  as  bad 
again  as  it  was  before ;  therefore  I  sometimes 
wish  I  might  die  before  I  be  so  bad  again." 

Cutshamakin  formed  a  true  estimate  of  him- 
self, when  he  distrusted  his  own  reformation. 
His  wild  passions  were  never  well  tamed;  and 
he  was  never  a  trustworthy  man,  or  a  hopeful 
convert.  At  a  subsequent  period,  about  the 
time  of  the  settlement  of  Natick,  hereafter  to 
be  mentioned,  he  protested  strenuously  against 
Mr.  Eliot's  proceeding  to  establish  an  Indian 
town.  He  was  violent  on  the  subject,  and 
affirmed  that  all  the  sachems  felt  as  he  did. 
Eliot's  manner  of  subduing  this  opposition 
bears  honorable  testimony  to  his  invincible 
firmness  anxl  his  strong  good  sense.  He  found 
that  the  Indians  friendly  to  his  undertaking 
were  frightened  by  the  sachem's  violence, 
turned  pale,  and  slunk  away,  leaving  him  to 
contest  the  matter  alone.    He  saw  the  necessity 


JOHN     ELIOT.  75 

of  prompt  resolution.  With  calm  courage  he 
told  Cutshamakin,  that,  as  he  was  about  God's 
work,  he  feared  neither  him  nor  the  other  sa- 
chems, and  that,  let  them  do  what  they  would, 
he  should  go  on  with  his  undertaking.  The 
spirit  of  the  savage  sunk  before  this  deter- 
mined firmness,  as  fierce  animals  are  said 
sometimes  to  be  subdued  by  looking  at  them 
with  a  stern  and  steady  eye.  This  victory  over 
the  violence  of  the  chief  contributed  not  a  lit- 
tle to  strengthen  the  apostle's  influence  with 
the  other  Indians. 

The  matter  did  not  rest  here.  When  Eliot 
took  leave  of  the  meeting,  Cutshamakin  ac- 
companied him  a  short  distance,  and  unbur- 
dened his  heart  by  stating  honestly  the  ground 
of  his  opposition.  He  alleged  that  the  "pray- 
ing Indians  "  did  not  pay  him  tribute,  as  they 
used  to  do  before  they  became  such.  He  was 
alarmed,  therefore,  at  the  idea  of  losing  his 
accustomed  revenues,  should  such  settlements 
be  encouraged.  Mr.  Eliot,  finding  him  now 
brought  to  reason,  treated  him  very  kindly 
He  reminded  the  sachem,  that  this  complaint 
was  not  a  new  one,  and  that,  when  he  had 
heard  it  before,  he  had  preached  a  discourse  to 
inculcate  upon  the  Indians  their  duty  in  this 
respect.  Cutshamakin  acknowledged  that  the 
teaching  was  good,  but  complained  that  the 
Indians   would   not   do   as   they  were   taught ; 


76  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

they  would  not  pay  the  tribute ;  and  this,  he 
affirmed,  was  the  cause  of  that  jealousy,  with 
which  all  the  sachems  observed  these  new 
movements. 

Eliot  saw,  that  here  was  an  evil  not  to  be 
neglected.  He  consulted  the  magistrates,  Mr. 
Cotton,  and  the  elders  in  Boston,  on  the  sub- 
ject. Mr.  Cotton's  discourse  at  the  next 
Thursday  lecture  in  Boston  was  to  be  on  a 
topic  appropriate  to  the  point.  Eliot,  being 
apprized  of  this,  advised  such  of  the  Indians 
as  understood  English  to  attend  the  lecture. 
By  what  they  heard  on  that  occasion,  and  by 
what  was  told  them  otherwise,  they  were  much 
troubled  to  find  themselves  accused  of  refusing 
to  pay  the  just  tribute  to  their  sachem.  They 
declared  the  accusation  to  be  false,  and  speci- 
fied to  Mr.  Eliot  all  the  particulars  of  service 
and  of  gifts,  which  they  had  contributed  to 
Cutshamakin's  revenue,  such  as  twenty  bushels 
of  corn  at  one  time,  six  at  another,  several 
days  spent  in  hunting  for  him,  fifteen  deer 
killed  for  him,  breaking  two  acres  of  land, 
building  a  large  wigwam  for  him,  &c.  All 
these  Mr.  Eliot  set  down  in  writing ;  and, 
though  they  were  contributed  but  by  a  few,  he 
found  to  his  surprise  that  they  amounted  to 
nearly  thirty  pounds.  He  now  saw,  that  the 
sachem's  complaint  was  groundless,  and  that 
the  real   source  of  his   resentment  was  in  the 


JOHN     ELIOT.  77 

diminution  of  that  despotic  power,  which  he 
once  exercised  over  his  subjects,  and  by  which 
he  could  dispose  of  their  lives  and  goods  at 
pleasure.  He  still  received  a  just  and  reason- 
able tribute ;  but  the  authority  to  exact  what- 
ever he  might  choose  was  questioned,  and  he 
was  sometimes  freely  admonished  of  the  faults 
of  his  government. 

Mr.  Eliot  had  now  the  difficult  task  of  con- 
vincing Cutshamakin  of  the  injustice  of  his 
complaints.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  In- 
dians he  took  with  him  an  elder  by  the  name 
of  Heath.  They  found  the  sachem  sullen  with 
resentment,  and  turning  on  them  very  sour 
looks.  Of  this  they  took  no  notice,  and  Mr. 
Eliot  proceeded  to  preach  as  usual.  He  took 
for  his  subject  the  account  of  the  temptation 
in  the  fourth  chapter  of  Matthew.  When  he 
came  to  the  explanation  of  the  eighth  and 
ninth  verses,  he  applied  it  to  Cutshamakin's 
case,  told  him  that  he  was  guilty  of  wicked 
ambition  and  lust  of  power,  that  a  temptation 
from  Satan  was  upon  him,  soliciting  him  to 
give  up  praying  to  God,  that  is,  being  a  Chris- 
tian, for  the  sake  of  recovering  the  greatness 
of  his  former  arbitrary  dominion.  The  preach- 
er exhorted  him  to  reject  the  temptation,  warn- 
ing him  that  otherwise  God  would  reject  him. 
The  appeal  was  not  lost  on  the  sachem.  After 
the    discourse,   Mr.   Eliot   and   the   elder   had 

H2 


78  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

"  much  conference "  with  him.  At  length  he 
appeared  satisfied,  and  returned  to  a  fair  and 
orderly  course  of  conduct.*  But  he  was  al- 
ways an  unsafe  man,  veering  about  with  every 
gust  of  passion,  violent  equally  in  his  offences 
and  his  repentance. 

Mr.  Eliot's  conduct  on  this  occasion  is  cer- 
tainly worthy  of  all  praise,  both  for  the  im- 
movable firmness  with  which  he  repulsed  the 
turbulent  onset  of  the  sachem,  and  for  the  pa- 
tient justice  with  which  he  afterwards  investi- 
gated the  case,  and  brought  the  difficulty  to  an 
equitable  conclusion. 

At  one  of  the  meetings  at  Neponset,  the  In- 
dians with  great  anxiety  inquired,  whether  it 
were  possible  for  any  of  them  to  go  to  heaven, 
"  seeing  they  found  their  hearts  so  full  of 
sin."  This  gave  their  preacher  an  opportunity 
to  open  the  whole  subject  to  them,  and  to  show 
them  how  they  might  hope  for  the  pardon  of 
sin  through  the  Savior. 

The  only  dependence  of  the  Indians  in  case 
of  illness  was  on  the  miserable  operations  of 
their  powaws  ;  and  they  naturally  shrunk  from 
the  thought  of  losing  what  they  supposed  their 

*  See  Eliot's  letter  in  Whitfield's  Farther  Discovery  of 
the  Present  State  of  the  Indians,  p.  39.  —  The  above  ac- 
count, though  out  of  place  as  to  the  time,  I  have  inserted 
here  as  belonging  to  the  history  of  this  sachem.  In  this 
case  the  chronological  order  is  of  little  importance. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  79 

sole  protection  against  fatal  disease.  Eliot, 
with  his  usual  good  sense,  saw  that  the  only 
way  to  remove  this  fear  was  to  have  them  in- 
structed in  the  use  of  prop-er  medical  remedies. 
He  himself  had  endeavored  to  give  them  some 
general  notions  of  anatomy  and  physic,  but 
with  little  success.  In  this  connexion,  he  ex- 
presses his  earnest  wish,  that  their  friends  in 
England  might  be  induced  to  furnish  mainte- 
nance for  some  persons,  who  might  give  them 
medical  and  anatomical  instruction.  By  these 
means,  he  thought,  while  important  benefits 
would  be  conferred  on  the  natives,  some  ad- 
vantage might  also  be  expected  for  the  healing 
art;  since,  by  the  help  of  the  Indians  and  of 
the  colonists,  many  new  plants,  valuable  for 
their  medicinal  efficacy,  might  perhaps  be  dis- 
covered, to  enrich  the  pharmacopoeia  of  medi- 
cal science.* 

Another  difficulty  occurred.  The  Indians 
who  opposed  Christianity  would  ask  the  con- 
verts tauntingly  ;  "  What  do  you  get  by  pray- 
ing to  God  and  believing  in  Jesus  Christ  ?  You 
are  as  poor  as  we,  your   clothes  and  your   corn 

*  Cleare  Sun-shine,  &c,  p.  26. —  It  may  be  worth  re- 
cording, as  a  fact  in  the  history  of  anatomical  studies 
among  us,  that,  according  to  Eliot's  statement,  there  had 
been  at  that  time  (1647)  but  one  skeleton  in  the  country, 
upon  which,  he  says,  a  Mr.  Giles  Firman  had  read  some 
good  lectures. 


°0  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

are  no  better  than  ours,  and  meanwhile  we 
take  more  pleasure  than  you  do.  If  we  couid 
see  that  you  gain  any  thing  by  being  Chris- 
tians, we  would  be  so  too."  This  reminds  us 
of  the  scoffing  question  of  the  irreligious  in 
ancient  times  ;  "  What  profit  should  we  have, 
if  we  pray  unto  him  ?  "  *  What  should  they 
say  to  such  persons  1  Mr.  Eliot's  answer  to 
the  inquiry  was  very  happily  conceived. 

He  told  them,  that  there   are   two   sorts   of 
blessings  ;    the  little  ones,  which  he  illustrated 
by  holding  up  his   little   finger,  and   the   great 
ones,    which    he    signified    by    extending    his 
thumb,  for  they  delighted  in  such  symbolical  ex- 
planations.   "  The  little  mercies,"  he  continued, 
"  are  riches,  good  clothes,  houses,  pleasant  food, 
&c;    the   great   ones   are  wisdom,   the  know- 
ledge of  God  and  Christ,  of  truth  and  eternal 
life.     Now,  though   God  may  not  give  you  any 
large  measure  of  the  little   blessings,  he   gives 
you  what  is  much  better,  the  great  blessings  ; 
and   these  are  things   which   those   wicked   In- 
dians do  not  see  or  understand."   Their  teacher, 
however,  let  them  know  that  godliness  has  a  re- 
ward even  in  the  things  of  this  life;  "for,"  said 
he,   "  in   proportion   as   you  become  wiser  and 
better  Christians,  you  will  be  more  industrious 
and    orderly,   and    then   you   will   have   better 


*  Job  xxi.  15. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  81 

clothes,  more  comfortable  houses,  and  other 
improvements."  Thus  skilfully  and  patiently 
did  the  good  evangelist  accommodate  his  in- 
structions to  their  conceptions  and  difficulties. 

About  this  time,  a  question  of  casuistry  was 
proposed  by  some  of  the  natives,  which  per- 
plexed their  teacher  not  a  little.  They  had 
been,  it  seems,  exceedingly  addicted  to  gam- 
ing, a  passion  for  which  is  generally  one  of  the 
strongest  in  the  breast  of  savage  as  well  as 
civilized  man.  Those  of  them  who  received 
Mr.  Eliot's  instructions  were  convinced  of  the 
unlawfulness  of  this  practice.  Their  query 
then  was,  whether  they  were  bound  to  pay  the 
debts  they  had  formerly  incurred  by  gaming ; 
for  these  debts  were  demanded  by  such  as 
were  not  "  praying  Indians."  Mr.  Eliot  saw 
that  the  case  was  embarrassing,  and  that, 
as  he  says,  "  there  was  a  snare  underneath." 
On  the  one  hand,  he  would  not  say  any  thing 
which  they  could  so  construe  as  to  countenance 
the  sin  of  gaming ;  on  the  other,  he  would 
not  teach  them  to  violate  their  promises. 

In  this  dilemma,  he  first  advised  them,  when 
such  debts  were  claimed,  to  refer  the  case  to 
the  governor  of  the  colony,  presuming  that 
measures  might  be  taken  by  him  to  settle  the 
matter  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  parties.  But 
this   proposal  was  not  relished.     He  then  took 

vol.  v.  6 


82  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

another  course.  First,  he  talked  with  the  cred- 
itor, urged  on  him  the  sinfulness  of  the  game- 
ster's practices,  and  told  him,  that,  having  been 
guilty  in  this  respect,  he  ought  to  be  willing 
to  give  up  half  of  his  claim,  to  which  it  is 
rather  remarkable  that  he  cheerfully  consented. 
He  then  talked  with  the  debtor,  reminding  him 
that,  though  he  had  sinned  in  gaming,  and 
must  heartily  repent  of  that  transgression,  yet, 
as  he  had  promised  payment,  and  as  God  re- 
quires us  to  perform  our  promises,  it  would  be 
a  sin  to  violate  his  obligation.  He  then  pro- 
posed to  the  debtor,  that  he  should  pay  one 
half  of  the  debt,  to  which  he  gave  a  very  wil- 
ling assent.  With,  this  compromise,  the  one 
surrendering  half,  and  the  other  agreeing  to 
pay  half,  both  parties  were  satisfied. 

This  mode  of  settling  the  difficulty  came  to 
be  the  established  rule  of  justice  in  such  cases.* 
It  may  be  doubted  whether  Mr.  Eliot's  decision 
would  receive  the  approbation  of  every  casuist; 
but  its  effect  on  such  minds  as  he  had  to  deal 
with  was  unquestionably  salutary. 

While  these  efforts  were  in  progress  at  No- 
nantum  and  Neponset,  the  attention  of  our  In- 
dian evangelist  was  called  to  another  quarter. 
The  doings  at  the  former  place  had  been  re- 
ported among  the  Indians,  and  had  excited  a 

#  Cleare  Sun-shine  of  the  Gospel,  pp.  26-28. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  83 

good  deal  of  interest.  Tahattawan,  a  sachem 
at  Concord,  with  some  of  his  people,  went  to 
Nonantum  and  heard  Mr.  Eliot  preach.  Wheth- 
er he  received  any  religious  impressions  at  this 
time,  we  know  not ;  but  we  learn  that  he  was 
smitten  with  a  desire  to  rise  above  the  wild 
courses  of  savage  life,  and  to  imitate  English 
habits.  Having  learned  that  this  project  was 
secretly  opposed  by  many  of  his  people,  he 
summoned  his  chief  men  around  him,  and  as- 
sured them  that  what  the  English  were  doing 
was  for  their  good.  "  For,"  said  he,  "  what  have 
you  gained,  while  you  have  lived  under  the 
power  of  the  higher  sachems,  after  the  Indian 
fashion  ?  They  only  sought  to  get  what  they 
could  from  you,  and  exacted  at  their  pleasure 
your  kettles,  your  skins,  and  your  wampum. 
But  the  English,  you  see,  do  no  such  things  ; 
they  seek  only  your  welfare,  and,  instead  of 
taking  from  you,  they  give  to  you."  * 

The  effect  of  the  sachem's  speech  was  to 
draw  his  people  to  his  way  of  thinking.  The 
result  appeared  in  a  body  of  twenty-nine  "  con- 
clusions and  orders,"  which  were  established 
as  rules  of  government  and  behavior.  Some 
of  these  regulations  related  to  moral  points, 
forbidding  drunkenness,  lying,  theft,  powaw- 
ing,    and     adultery,    and     enjoining    humility, 

*  Ibid.,  p.  2. 


54  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

peaceful  living,  improvement  of  time,  obser- 
vance of  the  Sabbath,  &c. ;  others  were  de- 
signed to  promote  neatness,  order,  and  mutual 
respect  in  their  daily  conduct.  Shepard,  who 
gives  a  list  of  all  these  rules,  says  that  they 
were  generally  well  observed,  and  that  most 
of  the  Indians  set  up  morning  and  evening 
prayer  in  their  families. 

In  drawing  up  these  regulations,  they  had 
the  assistance  of  the  wisest  Indians  at  Nonan- 
tum,  and  probably,  through  them,  of  Mr.  Eliot. 
They  requested  Captain  Willard  of  Concord 
to  put  them  in  writing,  and  to  act  as  their  re- 
corder. They  also  desired  the  apostle  to  visit 
and  preach  to  then%  and  wished  to  have  a  town 
granted  to  them  near  the  English,  that  by  the 
neighborhood  they  might  keep  up  a  love  for 
religious  instruction  and  for  the  word  of  God. 
Such  an  opportunity  for  usefulness  in  his  own 
beloved  way  Mr.  Eliot  of  course  would  rejoice 
to  improve.  He  visited  the  Concord  Indians 
as  often  as  his  pressing  duties  would  permit. 
He  met  their  wants,  and  answered  their  inqui- 
ries, with  his  usual  Avinning  affection  and  good 
judgment.  Land  was  granted  them  for  a  town 
according  to  their  request ;  *  but  strong  oppo- 

*  So  says  Shepard  in  his  Chare  Sun-shine,  fyc,  p.  3.  But 
Mr.  Shattuck  doubts  whether  there  was,  as  has  often  been 
stated,  any  definite  grant  of  land  to  the  Indians,  either  at 
Concord  or  Nonantum.     He  thinks  "  they  lived  by  suffer- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  85 

sition  from  some  of  the  natives  prevented  the 
settlement  at  that  time. 

A  few  years  afterwards,  by  the  mediation  of 
Eliot,  the  object  was  accomplished.  An  Indian 
town  called  Nashobah,  a  name  given  to  a  ter- 
ritory lying  partly  in  Littleton  and  partly  in 
Acton,  was  constituted.  They  had  the  insti- 
tutions of  Christian  worship,  and  an  Indian 
teacher,  probably  one  prepared  by  our  evange- 
list.* The  desire  of  enjoying  some  of  those 
comforts  of  life,  of  which  they  saw  the  English 
in  possession,  seems  to  have  led  the  natives  at 
Concord  to  take  the  first  step  towards  em- 
bracing Christianity. 

ance  on  lands  claimed  by  the  English,  prior  to  their  gather- 
ing- at  Natick."  —  History  of  Concord,  p.  24. 

*  In  addition  to  3  M.  H.  Coll.,  IV.  38-41,  see  Shat- 
tuck's  History  of  Concord,  pp.  20-27,  and  Emerson's 
Historical  Discourse,  Sept.  Wth,  1835,  pp.  18-20.  Mr. 
Shattuck  (p.  26)  has  given  a  copy  of  Eliot's  petition  to  the 
General  Court  in  behalf  of  the  Indians,  who  were  dis- 
turbed in  the  places  where  they  settled. 


AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Visit  of  Shepard  and.  Others  to  Nonantum.  —  A 
Court  established  for  the  "  Praying  Indians.'1  — 
Their  Appearance  before  a  Synod.  —  Their 
Questions.  —  Their  Observance  of  the  Sabbath. 
—  Funeral  of  a  Child. 

The  Indian  work  was  regarded  with  deep 
interest  by  other  clergymen,  as  well  as  by 
Eliot,  though  on  him  the  main  responsible- 
ness  and  the  chief  labor  always  rested.  On 
the  3d  of  March,  1647,  Mr.  Shepard  of  Cam- 
bridge, Mr.  Wilson  of  Boston,  Mr.  Allen  of 
Dedham,  and  Mr.  Dunster,  president  of  Har- 
vard College,  accompanied  by  others,  attended 
the  lecture  at  Nonantum. 

Of  this  visit  Shepard  has  left  a  brief  ac- 
count. The  women  seem  to  have  been  objects 
of  more  attention  than  at  any  time  before.  I* 
was  considered  improper  for  them  to  propound 
questions  publicly  themselves.  They  were 
therefore  requested  to  communicate  their  in- 
quiries to  their  husbands,  or  to  the  interpreter 
privately,  who  would  propose  them  before  the 
assembly.  Two  questions  were  accordingly 
stated,  the  first  that  were  ever  propounded 
from  their  women  in  this  public  way.    One  was 


JOHN     ELIOT.  87 

suggested  by  the  wife  of  Wampas,  who  has 
been  before  mentioned.  "  When  my  husband 
prays,"  said  she,  "  if  I  say  nothing,  and  yet  my 
heart  goes  along  with  what  he  says,  do  I  pray  ?  " 
This  inquiry  indicates  that  doubtful  tendency 
towards  the  true  idea  of  devotion,  which  be- 
longs to  a  mind  just  awakened  to  spiritual 
thought,  but  ignorant  of  spiritual  relations. 
She  was  of  course  instructed,  that  prayer,  be- 
ing an  act  of  the  heart,  is  true  and  efficient, 
whether  words  be  uttered  or  not. 

Mr.  Eliot  mentions  this  woman  with  great 
interest,  in  a  letter  written  more  than  a  year 
after  this  meeting.  She  was  one  of  those 
at  the  Nonantum  establishment,  who  had 
learned  to  spin,  and  was  remarkable  for  her 
industry  and  good  management  of  her  chil- 
dren. She  was  attacked  with  an  illness,  in 
which  she  suffered  much  and  which  proved 
fatal.  When  Mr.  Eliot  visited  her,  and  prayed 
with  her,  she  told  him,  that  "  she  still  loved 
God,  though  he  made  her  sick,  and  was  re- 
solved to  pray  to  him  so  long  as  she  lived  ;  " 
that  "  she  was  willing  to  die,  and  believed  she 
should  go  to  heaven  and  live  happy  with  God 
and  Christ  there."  She  was  the  first  adult 
that  had  died  among  the  Indians  since  Eliot 
began  his  mission.* 

*  Winslow's  Glorious  Progresse  of  the  Gospel,  fyc. 
*p.  6,  7. 


88  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Another  woman  put  what  she  had  to  say 
into  the  form  of  a  statement,  rather  than  a 
query.  This  she  did,  according  to  Shepard, 
from  motives  of  kindness  to  her  husband.  "  Be- 
fore my  husband  prayed,"  said  she, "  he  was  very 
angry  and  froward  ;  but,  since  he  began  to  pray, 
he  has  not  been  so  much  angry,  but  only  a 
little."  She  meant,  as  was  supposed,  to  imply 
the  question,  whether  a  husband  could  with  a 
good  conscience  pray  with  his  wife,  and  yet 
continue  to  indulge  his  irascible  passions. 
But  by  the  form  in  which  she  expressed  her 
suggestion,  Mr.  Shepard  thought  that  she  gave 
her  husband  a  creditable  testimony  for  the  de- 
gree in  which  he  had  overcome  his  habit  of 
anger,  and  at  the  same  time  conveyed  a  gentle 
admonition  of  the  need  of  further  reformation.* 
It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  good  divine  did 
not  see  more  refinement  in  the  case,  than  the 
truth  of  the  matter  would  warrant. 

On  the  26th  of  May,  1647,  the  General  Court 
manifested  a  regard  to  the  welfare  of  the  na- 
tives, by  passing  an  order  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  judiciary  among  them,  adapted  to 
their  condition  and  wants.  They  had  ex- 
pressed to  Mr.  Eliot  a  desire  to  have  "  a  course 
of  ordinary  judicature."  It  was  ordered  that 
one  or  more  of  the  magistrates  of  the  colony 
should,    once   every   quarter,   hold    a   court   at 

•  Cleare  Sun-shine,  &c,  p.  7. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  89 

some  place  where  the  Indians  usually  assem- 
bled for  religious  purposes.  It  was  the  duty 
of  this  court  to  hear  and  determine  all  civil 
and  criminal  causes,  not  being  capital,  which 
concerned  the  Indians  only.  The  sachems 
were  empowered  to  issue  orders  or  a  summons 
to  bring  any  of  their  people  before  this  tribu- 
nal. They  were  also  permitted  to  hold  inferior 
courts  themselves  every  month,  if  there  should 
be  occasion,  to  determine  civil  causes  of  a  less 
important  nature,  and  such  smaller  criminal 
causes,  as  might  be  referred  to  them  by  the 
magistrates.  The  sachems  were  to  appoint 
officers  to  serve  warrants,  and  execute  the  or- 
ders and  judgments  of  the  courts.  All  fines 
were  to  be  appropriated  to  the  building  of 
places  of  worship,  or  the  education  of  chil- 
dren, or  to  some  other  such  public  use  as  Mr. 
Eliot  and  other  elders  might  recommend.  It 
was  also  requested  of  the  magistrates  and  of 
Mr.  Eliot,  that  they  would  endeavor  to  make 
the  natives  understand  the  laws  by  explaining 
the  principles  of  reason  and  equity  on  which 
they  were  founded,  and  that  they  would  pro- 
vide for  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  day 
among  the  Indians.*  These  seem  to  have  been 
wise  arrangements,  and  to  imply  no  small  con- 
fidence in  the  integrity  and  good  judgment  of 
the  natives. 


Ibid.,  p.  15. 

12 


90  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

On  the  8th  of  June,  1647,  a  synod  of  the 
churches  met  by  adjournment  at  Cambridge. 
This  was  thought  to  be  a  favorable  occasion  to 
call  the  attention  of  the  leading  men  in  eccle- 
siastical affairs  to  the  labors  of  Mr.  Eliot,  and 
to  give  the  messengers  of  the  churches  an  op- 
portunity of  judging,  by  personal  observation, 
of  the  reports  they  had  heard  concerning  the 
good  work.  The  "  praying  Indians"  were  en- 
couraged to  attend  the  meeting ;  and  there 
was,  we  are  told,  "  a  great  confluence  of  them." 
In  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day  of  the  ses- 
sion, Mr.  Eliot  preached  to  them  in  their  own 
language  from  Ephesians  ii.  1,  and  dwelt  upon 
the  truths  appropriate  to  their  condition,  sug- 
gested by  that  passage. 

After  the  lecture,  the  usual  exercise  of  ques- 
tions and  answers  took  place  in  presence  of 
the  ministers  and  elders.  The  only  questions 
by  the  Indians  on  that  occasion,  left  on  record, 
are  the  following ; 

"  What  countryman  was  Christ,  and  where 
was  he  born  ? 

"  How  far  off  is  that  place  from  us  here  1 

"  Where  is  Christ  now  ? 

"  How  and  where  may  we  lay  hold  on  him, 
as  he  is  now  absent  from  us  ?  " 

These  inquiries,  though  relating  to  points  of 
great  importance,  are  certainly  not  so  striking 
and  significant,  as  some  which  were  proposed 


JOHN     ELIOT.  91 

on  other  occasions.  "What  we  know  of  the 
Indian  character  will  hardly  allow  us  to  sup- 
pose, that  they  were  overawed  by  the  solemn 
assembly  of  the  clergy  and  elders  ;  but  their 
attention  might  have  been  so  distracted  by  the 
novelty  of  the  scene,  that  they  could  not  lay 
open  their  minds  with  so  much  natural  free- 
dom, as  at  more  private  meetings.  Full  an- 
swers were  given  to  their  questions.  They 
are  described  as  having  been  profoundly  atten- 
tive to  Mr.  Eliot's  preaching,  and  much  moved 
by  it.  Many  of  their  children  were  present, 
who  in  an  interesting  manner  answered  the 
principal  questions  of  the  Catechism,  in  which 
they  had  been  instructed.  The  whole  scene 
must  have  been  singularly  impressive.  One 
can  imagine,  that  the  pencil  of  the  painter 
might  sketch  with  good  effect  this  assembly  of 
the  grave  fathers  of  the  "churches,  surrounded 
by  the  red  men  of  the  woods,  and  their  little 
ones,  as  objects  of  that  high  interest,  which 
belongs  to  the  spiritual  relations  of  man  with 
man.* 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1647, 
Mr.  Shepard  speaks  of  having  again  visited 
the  scene  of  Eliot's  exertions,  probably  at  No- 
nantum.     He  was  agreeably   surprised   to   find 

*  Shepard  furnishes  us  with  an  account  of  this  meeting, 
Chare  Sun-shine,  fyc,  p.  1].  Winthrop  also  mentions  it, 
II.  308. 


92  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

many  of  the  men,  women,  and  children  clad  in 
good  clothes,  after  the  fashion  of  their  civil- 
ized neighbors.  These  they  had  received  from 
their  friends  among  the  English,  who  attended 
the  lectures.  A  report  is  given  of  some  of  the 
Indian  questions  in  the  course  of  Eliot's  in- 
structions during  the  subsequent  winter,  from 
notes  taken  by  a  Mr.  Jackson  of  Cambridge, 
who  was  present  at  the  meetings  ;  but  the  an- 
swers are  not  recorded. 

Among  the  difficulties,  of  which  they  sought 
a  solution  from  their  teacher,  were  the  follow- 
ing. "  Whether  the  Devil  or  man  was  made 
first  ? "  One  cannot  but  feel  a  curiosity  to 
know  what  train  of  thought  suggested  this  in- 
quiry. "How  may  one  know  wicked  men, — 
who  are  good  and  who  are  bad  1 "  A  question 
which  has  puzzled  wiser  heads  and  more  prac- 
tised observers,  than  these  untaught  men  of 
the  wilderness.  "  If  a  man  should  be  enclosed 
in  iron  a  foot  thick,  and  thrown  into  the  fire,, 
what  would  become  of  his  soul  1  Could  the 
soul  come  forth  thence  or  not  ? "  This  is  a 
good  illustration  of  the  difficulty,  which  the 
rude  mind  finds  in  conceiving  the  nature  of  a 
spiritual  existence,  even  when  it  has  some  ap- 
prehension of  a  spiritual  agency.  It  is  at  least 
as  important  a  question,  as  many  of  those  on 
which  minute  philosophers  have  disputed  long 
and  angrily.     "  Why  did  not  God  give  all  men 


JOHN     ELIOT.  93 

good  hearts,  that  they  might  be  good  ?  And 
why  did  not  God  kill  the  Devil,  that  made  all 
men  so  bad,  God  having  all  power  ?  "  Here 
struggles  forth,  in  a  crude  form,  from  the  labor- 
ing breast  of  the  savage,  the  same  thorny  per- 
plexity concerning  the  existence  and  origin  of 
evil,  which  has  been  discussed  from  the  earliest 
to  the  latest  of  the  philosophers,  who  have 
speculated  on  the  being  and  destination  of 
man.  It  would  be  gratifying  to  know  in  what 
manner  Mr.  Eliot  met  such  inquiries  as  these. 
Other  questions  of  much  interest  were  pro- 
posed ;  as,  "  how  they  should  know  when  their 
faith  was  good,  and  when  their  prayers  were 
good  prayers." 

These  questions,  says  Shepard,  were  ac- 
counted by  some  "  as  part  of  the  whitenings  of 
the  harvest."  The  Indians  likewise  manifest- 
ed some  anxiety  about  the  causes  of  natural 
phenomena,  and  started  inquiries  concerning 
the  sun,  moon,  stars,  earth,  sea,  lightning, 
and  earthquakes.* 

About  this  time  we  find  the  first  instance  of 
a  disrespectful  question  addressed  to  Eliot. 
A  drunken  Indian,  known  by  the  name  of 
George,  being  in  a  condition  to  feel  more  inter- 
est in  the  origin  of  his  beloved  liquor  than  in 
the  origin  of  any  thing  else,  called   out   impu- 

*  Cleare  Sun-shine,  &c,  pp.  13, 14. 


y4  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 

denlly,  w  Who  made  sack,  Mr.  Eliot,  who  made 
sack  ?  "  For  this  the  other  Indians  rebuked 
him,  and  termed  it  a  papoose  question,  that  is,  a 
child  sh  question.  The  preacher  spoke  to  him 
with  10  much  gravity  and  wisdom,  that  his  in- 
scl^>ce  was  overawed  into  decency.  Mr.  Eliot 
relies,  that  this  same  fellow,  having  killed  a 
cow  in  Cambridge,  sold  it  at  the  College  for  a 
TTiOose.  For  this  he  was  subjected  to  admoni- 
tion at  one  of  the  Indian  meetings.  But  he 
had  contrived  to  cover  his  fraud  with  so  many 
dexterous  lies,  that  Mr.  Dunster,  president  of 
the  College,  was  reluctant  to  have  him  direct- 
ly accused  of  it,  and  thought  a  further  inquiry 
should  be  made.  However,  he  was  called  be- 
fore the  assembly,  and  charged  with  his  fault 
so  powerfully,  that  he  could  not  deny  it,  but 
made  an  ample  confession.*  The  president 
of  the  College,  and  grave  divines,  sitting  in 
judgment  on  the  trick  of  an  Indian  blackguard, 
exhibit  an  amusing  picture  to  our  imaginations 
at  the  present  day,  though  doubtless  the  disci- 
pline was  necessary  and  salutary. 

Mr.  Eliot  tell  us,  that  the  "  praying  Indians  " 
were  strict  in  their  observance  of  the  Sabbath. 
As  the  care  of  his  own  church  would  not  allow 
him  to  be  with  them  often  on  that  day,  they 
were  in  some  perplexity  ;   for,  they  said,  if  they 

*  Eliot's  letter  in  Chare  Sun-shine,  ^-c,  p.  23. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  95 

should  go  to  the  English  meetings,  they  should 
understand  nothing,  or  so  little,  that  it  would 
be  useless.  He  advised  them,  as  the  only  fea- 
sible measure,  to  meet  among  themselves,  and 
request  the  best  and  wisest  of  their  number  to 
pray  with  them,  and  teach  them  such  things  as 
they  had  learned  through  him  from  the  divine 
word. 

Some  instances  related  by  Eliot,  show  their 
strong  conviction  of  the  impropriety  of  violat- 
ing the  Lord's  day  by  common  employments. 
The  wife  of  Cutshamakin  once  went  to  fetch 
water  on  the  Sabbath,  and  talked  with  other 
women  by  the  wTay  "  on  worldly  matters,"  as 
the  account  states.  This  came  to  the  ears  of 
Nabanton,  who  was  to  be  the  teacher  that  day. 
Nabanton  preached  on  the  sanctification  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  at  the  close  rebuked  the  miscon- 
duct of  which  he  had  heard  in  the  morning. 
The  wife  of  Cutshamakin,  not  dashed  by  this 
personal  application  of  the  subject,  shrewdly 
and  probably  with  truth  told  him  after  the  ser- 
mon, that  he  had  done  more  harm  by  making 
so  much  talk  about  the  matter  in  the  public  as- 
sembly, than  she  had  by  fetching  the  water. 
This  brought  on  a  discussion,  and  they  con- 
cluded to  refer  the  case  to  Mr.  Eliot.  To  his 
house  in  Roxbury  they  went  the  next  day,  and 
laid  the  matter  before  him.  What  decision  he 
pronounced,  he   does   not    definitely   say.     He 


96 


AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHT. 


only  remarks,  that  he  gave  them  such  direc- 
tions as  were  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God. 

Another  instance  occurred  at  the  wigwam 
of  no  less  a  man  than  Waban.  On  a  Sunday 
two  Indians  arrived  there  towards  night,  and 
told  him,  that  about  a  mile  off  they  had  chased 
a  racoon  into  the  hollow  of  a  tree.  They 
wanted  help  to  fell  the  tree,  and  take  the  ani- 
mal. It  seems  that  Waban,  who,  like  the  In- 
dians generally,  was  "  given  to  hospitality," 
thought  the  racoon  would  furnish  a  good  meal 
for  his  stranger  guests.  So  he  sent  two  of  his 
men,  who  felled  the  tree  and  caught  the  animal. 
The  rest  of  the  Christian  Indians  were  offend- 
ed with  this  conduct,  as  a  violation  of  the 
Sabbath  not  to  be  overlooked.  The  subject 
was  kept  for  discussion  at  the  next  lecture, 
when  the  questions  to  which  it  gave  rise  were 
answered  by  Eliot. 

A  third  case  is  mentioned,  in  which  a  vigi- 
lance was  exercised,  that  must  have  been  sat- 
isfactory even  to  the  framers  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Blue  Laws.  On  a  certain  Sabbath,  the  pub- 
lic meeting  was  held  long  and  late.  One  of 
the  Indians,  on  returning  to  his  wigwam,  found 
the  fire  almost  gone  out.  He  took  his  hatchet, 
as  he  sat  by  the  fireside,  and  split  a  small 
piece  of  d^v  wood,  which  was  kept  for  kin- 
dling, and  so  lighted  up  his  fire.  This  was 
deemed   a  trespass   by   the   Indians   who   took 


JOHN     ELIOT  Sr7 

notice  of  it ;  and  at  the  next  lecture  the  matter 
was  brought  before  the  assembly  for  further 
investigation.* 

These  instances  may  serve  to  show  how  they 
were  led  to  regard  the  Sabbath.  It  might  be 
supposed,  that,  to  men  accustomed  to  the  wild- 
est freedom  of  life  at  all  times,  such  restraints 
must  have  been  irksome.  Yet,  if  we  may  judge 
from  a  curious  expression  of  their  feelings  on 
one  occasion,  they  did  not  consider  the  sacri- 
fice of  their  liberty  in  this  respect  as  annoying 
or  troublesome.  When  Cutshamakin  and  oth- 
ers entered  into  a  treaty  with  their  English 
neighbors  in  1643,  they  were  asked  whether 
they  would  agree  "  not  to  do  any  unnecessary 
work  on  the  Sabbath  day,  especially  within  the 
gates  of  Christian  towns."  They  gave  a  ready 
assent,  replying  with  amusing  naivete,  that  "  it 
would  be  easy  to  them,  that  they  had  not  much 
to  do  on  any  day,  and  could  well  enough  take 
their  rest  on  that  day."  f 

Another  anecdote  related  by  Eliot  illustrates 
his  mode  of  administering  admonition  and  cen- 
sure. Wampas  on  some  trivial  occasion,  in  a 
fit  of  passion,  beat  his  wife.  This  brutal  treat- 
ment of  their  females  had  formerly  been,  as  is 
usual   among  savage  tribes,  very   common,  and 

*  Eliot's  letter  in  Chare  Sunshine,  ^-c,  pp.  19,  20. 
>f  Gookin's  MS.  Hist.  Account  of  the  Christian  Indians. 
vol.  v.  7  K 


yo  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 

passed  without  notice.  But  since  they  had  re- 
ceived Christianity,  they  had  learned  to  con- 
sider it  as  a  great  offence,  and  the  transgressor 
in  such  cases  was  exposed  to  a  fine.  Wampas 
was  made  to  stand  up,  and  answer  for  his  fault 
before  the  public  meeting,  which  happened  to 
be  uncommonly  large,  being  attended  by  the 
Governor  and  many  others  of  the  English.  The 
Indian  made  an  humble  confession  of  his  crime, 
took  the  blame  wholly  to  himself,  and  attempt- 
ed no  palliation.  When  Mr.  Eliot  set  before 
him,  in  its  true  light,  the  sin  of  beating  his 
wife  and  indulging  his  violent  passions,  he 
turned  his  face  to  the  wall  and  wept.  All  were 
disposed  to  forgive  him;  but  his  fine  was 
strictly  exacted,  which  he  cheerfully  paid. 

Particulars  like  these  are  valuable  for  the 
light  they  throw  on  the  Indian  character,  as 
it  was  sometimes  affected  by  the  instructions 
of  a  teacher,  who,  while  like  all  others  of  his 
day  he  pressed  some  points  with  too  much 
rigor,  still  always  aimed,  and  for  the  most  part 
wisely,  at  the  true  improvement,  the  real  good, 
of  his  rude  disciples. 

About  this  time  an  Indian,  wTho  was  reputed 
to  be  a  powaw,  asked  Mr.  Eliot  how  it  hap- 
pened, that,  as  the  English  had  been  in  the 
country  a  considerable  time,  some  of  them  no 
less  than  twenty-seven  years,  they  had  so  long 
neglected  to  instruct  the  natives  in  the  knowl- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  99 

edge  of  God,  and  why  they  had  not  sooner 
imparted  what  they  professed  to  consider  so 
important.  "  Had  you  done  it  sooner,"  said 
he,  "  we  might  have  known  much  of  God  by 
this  time,  and  much  sin  might  have  been  pre- 
vented ;  but  now  some  of  us  are  grown  old  in 
sin."  Whatever  of  rebuke  there  was  in  these 
questions  and  remarks,  Mr.  Eliot  received  with 
submissive  acknowledgment  of  the  fault.  He 
assured  the  Indian,  that  the  English  sincerely 
repented  of  their  neglect  in  this  matter.  But 
he  added,  that  the  natives  had  never  till  now 
been  willing  to  hear  religious  teaching,  and 
profit  by  it.  Had  the  experiment  been  before 
made  in  any  such  manner,  as  to  justify  this  last 
assertion  ? 

Some  of  the  Indians,  with  the  interest  natu- 
ral to  .the  parental  feelings,  were  anxious  to 
know  what  would  become  of  their  children 
after  death,  since  they  had  not  sinned.  Mr. 
Eliot's  theology  led  him,  on  this  occasion,  to 
expound  to  his  wild  hearers,  who  at  best  were 
"  in  the  gristle  and  not  hardened  into  the 
bone  "  of  Christianity,  the  mysteries  of  original 
sin,  and  to  assure  them,  that,  when  God  elects 
the  father  or  mother  to  be  his  servant,  he  elects 
the  children  also.  This  doctrine,  he  says, 
"  was  exceeding  grateful  unto  them."  Might 
not  their  good  teacher  have  better  used  the 
simple   and    touching  illustrations  taken   from 


100  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

the  paternal  character  of  God,  which  on  some 
other  occasions  he  applied  with  much  beauty 
and  power  ? 

The  natives  had  learned  from  their  new  re- 
ligion to  renounce  polygamy.  But  this  change 
in  their  habits  gave  occasion  to  a  difficulty, 
which  they  stated  in  the  following  way.  Sup- 
pose an  Indian,  before  he  knew  God,  had  been 
the  husband  of  two  wives,  one  of  whom  had 
been  barren,  and  the  other  had  borne  children ; 
which  of  the  two  wives  should  he  discard  ?  If 
the  first,  then  he  would  apparently  violate  the 
solemn  obligation  belonging  to  her  prior  matri- 
monial claim,  solely  because  she  happened  to 
have  no  children.  If  the  second,  then,  together 
with  her  whom  he  dearly  loved,  he  must  re- 
nounce her  children,  and  make  them  illegiti- 
mate. Men,  who  could  reason  thus,  were  not 
wanting  in  clearness  of  discernment,  or  in  fine 
feeling.  To  Eliot  and  Shepard  the  inquiry 
was  so  embarrassing,  that  they  declined  giving 
a  reply,  till  they  had  consulted  with  some  of 
their  brethren.  We  are  not  informed  what 
answer  was  finally  returned ;  but  doubtless 
some  rule  of  action  was  established  for  such 
cases. 

At  one  of  the  Nonantum  lectures,  an  old 
squaw  asked,  "  If  God  loves  those  who  turn 
to  him,  how  comes  it  to  pass  that  men  are  any 
more  afflicted  after  they  turn  to  God  ?  "     Here 


JOHN     ELIOT.  101 

was  exhibited  that  notion  of  an  obligation  on 
the  part  of  the  Deity  to  reward  his  worshippers 
with  good  things,  which  is  generally  found  in 
the  rude  developements  of  the  religious  senti- 
ment, accompanied  with  but  little,  if  any,  ap- 
prehension of  the  nature  of  a  state  of  disci- 
pline and  probation. 

At  another  time  Wampas,  who  is  said  to  have 
been  "sober  and  hopeful,"  instead  of  propos- 
ing a  question,  made  the  following  statement 
of  a  difficulty,  under  which  the  converts  to 
Christianity  were  suffering ;  "  On  the  one  hand, 
the  other  Indians  hate  and  oppose  us,  because 
we  pray  to  God  ;  on  the  other,  the  English  will 
not  put  confidence  in  us,  and  suspect,  that  we 
do  not  really  pray.  But,"  he  added  with  an 
affecting  consciousness  of  honesty,  "  God,  who 
knows  all  things,  knows  that  we  do  pray  to 
him."  To  this  Mr.  Eliot  replied,  that  it  was 
true  some  of  the  English  for  various  reasons 
had  suspicions  as  to  the  reality  of  their  reli- 
gion;  "but,"  said  he,  "I  and  others,  who  are 
in  the  habit  of  seeing  and  conversing  with  you, 
have  no  such  suspicions."  He  then  spoke  en- 
couraging words,  and  exhorted  them  to  be 
faithful,  true,  and  persevering. 

When  Mr.  Eliot  had  preached,  at  one  of  the 
Nonantum  lectures,  from  Ephesians  v.  11,  one 
of  his  hearers,  by  a  very  natural  application  of 
the  text,  inquired  what  the  English  thought  of 

K2 


102  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

him  for  coming  among  the  wicked  Indians  to 
teach  them.  Another  query  was,  Suppose  two 
men  sin,  of  whom  one  knows  that  he  sins,  and 
the  other  does  not  know  it ;  will  God  punish 
both  alike  ?  He  who  put  this  question  had 
some  better  conceptions  of  moral  equity  in  the 
divine  government,  than  is  often  found  in  the 
savage  breast.  Again,  another  inquired,  wheth- 
er a  wise  Indian,  who  teaches  other  Indians  in 
the  ways  of  God,  should  not  be  as  a  father  or 
a  brother  to  those  whom  he  so  teaches.  There 
is  in  this  question  a  fine  moral  meaning,  in  ac- 
cordance with  one  of  the  most  beautiful  decla- 
rations of  our  Savior,  and  worthy  of  the  reli- 
gious philosophy  of  the  enlightened  Christian. 
An  affecting  scene  occurred  at  Nonantum  in 
October,  1647.  An  Indian  child  had  been  for 
a  long  time  ill  with  a  consumption,  and  at 
length  died.  Some  of  the  natives  went  to  the 
English  to  learn  their  manner  of  burying  their 
children.  Having  received  the  desired  infor- 
mation, they  rejected  all  their  own  customary 
observances  on  such  an  occasion,  procured  a 
few  boards  and  nails,  made  a  neat  coffin,  and 
about  forty  of  them  in  a  solemn  manner  accom- 
panied the  body  of  the  little  one  to  its  resting- 
place  in  the  dust.  They  then  withdrew  a 
short  distance  to  the  shade  of  a  large  tree, 
and  requested  one  of  their  number  to  pray 
with  them.     Their   devotional    exercise,  which 


JOHN     ELIOT.  103 

lasted  nearly  half  an  hour,  was  extremely  fer- 
vent, and  accompanied  with  many  tears.  The 
Englishman,  who  observed  these  proceedings 
at  a  distance,  and  reported  them,  said  that 
"  the  woods  rang  again  with  their  sighs  and 
prayers."  * 

#  Cleare  Sun-shine,  &c,  pp.  34  -  37. 


104  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER   VII. 

Eliot's  Visits  to  Passaconaivay  at  Pautucket.  — 
Kindness  experienced  by  Him  frorr  the  Nashaway 
Sachem,  and  his  Exposure  and  Suffering.  —  His 
Agency  with  Regard  to  Murders  committed, 
among  the  Indians.  — Excursion  to  Yarmouth. 

Hitherto  the  exertions  of  the  Apostle  to  the 
Indians  had  not  taken  him  far  from  his  home. 
By  these  he  had  gained  such  acquaintance  with 
the  character,  habits,  and  minds  of  the  natives, 
as  enabled  him  to  proceed  in  his  work  with  re- 
newed confidence.  He  now  began  to  extend 
the  sphere  of  his  pious  duties  to  more  distant 
places.  Wherever  there  was  a  call  to  do  good, 
by  bringing  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  to  bear  on 
the  barbarism  and  ignorance  of  the  wilderness, 
he  was  happy  to  go,  and  ready  to  spend  and 
be  spent. 

Near  Merrimac  River  at  Pautucket  he  found 
opportunities  of  intercourse  with  Passaconaway, 
an  Indian  ruler  of  much  celebrity.  This  man 
is  supposed  to  have  been  a  Lashaba,  that  is,  a 
greater  sachem,  to  whom  inferior  sachems  ac- 
knowledged  subjection.*      His   dominion  was 

#  Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  B.  III.  ch.  7. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  105 

of  large  extent,  and  his  power  great.  The 
English  had  become  acquainted  with  him  on 
various  occasions,  and  his  name  often  occurs  in 
the  history  of  the  times.  He  is  said  to  have 
lived  to  a  great  age.  Gookin  remarks  ;  "  I  saw 
him  alive  at  Pautucket  when  he  was  about  a 
hundred  and  twenty  years  old,"  *  but  does  not 
tell  us  how  he  ascertained  his  age.  He  proba- 
bly had  no  satisfactory  means  of  information. 
Eliot  merely  calls  him  "  old  "  when  he  saw  him. 
Not  long  before  his  death,  this  chief  made  a 
speech  to  his  children  and  friends,  in  which  he 
advised  them  never  to  quarrel  with  the  English. 
"For,"  said  he,  "though  you  may  doubtless 
have  it  in  your  power  to  do  them  much  harm, 
yet,  if  you  do,  they  will  surely  destroy  you,  and 
root  you  out  of  the  land.  I  was  once  as  much 
an  enemy  to  them,  as  any  one  can  be.  I  did 
what  I  could  to  prevent  their  settlement,  or 
bring  them  to  destruction  ;  but  it  was  all  in 
vain  I  therefore  counsel  you  never  to  contend 
or  make  war  with  them."  There  is  a  tone 
either  of  the  piteous  despair  attending  the  con- 
sciousness of  a  hopeless  struggle,  or  of  the 
more  refined  sentiment  of  willing  submission  to 
the  superiority  of  the  white  man,  in  the  feeling, 
which  thus  burst  from  the  soul  of  the  old  chief, 
as  he  was  about  to  close  his  eyes  in  death.     He 

*  Historical  Account  of  the  Christian  Indians. 


106  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

had  the  reputation  of  being  a  great  sorcerer,  or 
powaw ;  and  his  subjects  believed,  that  he 
could  make  a  green  leaf  grow  in  winter,  put 
the  trees  into  a  dance,  and  set  water  on  fire. 

Some  time  in  1647,  or  perhaps  in  the  preced- 
ing year,  Mr.  Eliot,  in  company  with  Captain 
Willard  of  Concord  and  others,  travelled  as 
far  as  the  Merrimac.  At  that  time  Passacona- 
way  would  not  see  them,  and  fled  with  his  sons, 
pretending  that  he  was  afraid  of  being  killed. 
This  conduct  in  a  powerful  Indian  chief  seems 
inexplicable.  That  he  really  feared  one  who 
came,  as  Shepard  says,  "  only  with  a  book  in 
his  hand,  and  a  few  others  without  any  weap- 
ons to  bear  him  company,"  is  hardly  to  be  sup- 
posed. Many  of  his  men  remained,  and  lis- 
tened to  what  the  preacher  had  to  say.  Eliot 
was  accompanied  by  some  Christian  Indians 
from  his  own  neighborhood.  These  were  of 
much  service  on  the  present  occasion,  by  pray- 
ing in  the  wigwams  and  conversing  about 
"  the  things  of  God." 

In  the  spring  of  1648,  Mr.  Eliot  again  visited 
Pautucket.  At  that  season  of  the  year,  there 
was  annually  a  great  confluence  of  Indians  at 
this  spot,  which  was  a  famous  fishing-place. 
These  gatherings  reminded  Eliot  of  the  fairs 
in  England,  which  he  thought  they  resembled. 
He  found  them  fit  occasions  for  the  good  pur- 
poses he  had  in  view,  because   they  furnished 


JOHN     ELIOT.  107 

him  with  large  audiences,  that  came  from  vari- 
ous quarters.  It  must  have  required  all  his 
zeal,  firmness,  and  prudence,  to  remain  day 
after  day  among  this  savage  multitude,  and 
wait  his  opportunities  of  instruction  amidst 
their  wild  festivity.  Already  his  influence 
there  had  been  such,  that  many  of  the  Indians 
had  exchanged  the  gaming  and  other  evil  prac- 
tices of  those  seasons,  for  religious  instruction 
and  good  conversation.  On  the  present  occa- 
sion Passaconaway  did  not,  as  before,  betake 
himself  to  flight  at  the  apostle's  approach.  He 
was  willing  to  stay  and  listen.  Eliot  preached 
from  Malachi  i.  11,  of  which  passage, —  I  sup- 
pose that  he  might  make  it  more  intelligible 
and  striking  to  his  hearers,  —  he  gave  the  fol- 
lowing version  ;  "  From  the  rising  of  the  sun 
to  the  going  down  of  the  same,  thy  name  shall 
be  great  among  the  Indians  ;  and  in  every 
place  prayers  shall  be  made  to  thy  name,  pure 
prayers,  for  thy  name  shall  be  great  among  the 
Indians." 

After  the  preaching  they  proposed  questions. 
One  of  them  inquired,  whether  all  the  Indians, 
who  had  died  hitherto,  had  gone  to  hell,  and 
only  a  few  now  at  last  were  put  in  the  way  for 
going  to  heaven.  To  this  natural  and  fair 
question  Mr.  Eliot  has  not  recorded  his  reply 
He  merely  remarks,  that  the  doctrine  of  a  two^ 
fold  future  state  was    always   one  of  the  first 


108  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

points  in  his  preaching,  and  that  it  was  readily- 
embraced  by  the  natives ;  for  they  had  already 
some  traditional  notions  of  another  life  and  its 
retributions.  After  some  time,  old  Passacona- 
way  himself  spoke.  He  said  he  had  never  yet 
prayed  to  God,  for  he  had  never  before  heard 
such  instructions  concerning  God.  But  he  de- 
clared his  belief  in  the  truth  of  what  had  just 
been  taught,  and  his  determination  for  the  fu- 
ture to  pray  to  God,  and  to  persuade  his  sons 
to  follow  his  example.  Two  of  them  were 
present,  who  assented  to  their  father's  purpose. 
The  conversion  of  the  old  chief  may  seem  to 
have  been  too  sudden  to  be  lasting.  But  Mr. 
Eliot  had  reason  to  think,  that  it  was  not  a 
vanishing  impulse  of  the  moment,  because  af- 
terwards this  sachem  told  Captain  Willard, 
who  was  in  the  habit  of  trading  in  those  quar- 
ters for  beaver  and  otter  skins,  that  he  wished 
him  and  the  apostle  to  fix  their  abode  in  his 
neighborhood,  in  order  that  his  people  might 
enjoy  religious  instruction.  He  likewise  offered 
to  allow  them  their  choice  of  the  best  of  his 
lands  for  that  purpose.  It  was  the  uniform 
and  judicious  endeavor  of  Mr.  Eliot  to  prevail 
on  the  chief  sachems  to  receive  Christianity, 
that,  having  the  support  of  those  who  were  as 
princes  among  the  barbarians,  he  might  more 
effectually  encourage  the  timid,  and  repress  the 
insolence  of  the  scorners.     In  this  way  Passa- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  109 

conaway's  conversion  was  likely  to  be  of  much 
service  to  the  cause.* 

In  this  connexion  our  painstaking  evange- 
list speaks  of  the  difficulty,  which  the  mission- 
ary to  the  Indians  must  experience  from  their 
squalid  poverty  and  barbarous  habits  of  living. 
He  who  went  among  them  might  not  expect  to 
find  food  and  drink,  of  which  he  could  partake. 
These  he  must  take  with  him,  and  other  things 
besides  for  presents.  "  I  never  go  unto  them 
empty,"  says  Eliot,  "  but  carry  somewhat  to 
distribute  among  them."  He  also  invited  them 
to  his  house,  where  he  always  had  refreshments 
and  gifts  for  them.  Nor  did  they  omit  such 
humble  expressions  of  kind  feeling  towards 
their  good  teacher,  as  were  in  their  power. 
He  relates  with  pleasant  simplicity,  that  once, 
as  he  was  taking  his  horse  to  depart,  "  a  poor 
creature "  seized  his  hand  and  thrust  some- 
thing into  it,  which  he  found  to  be  a  penny- 
worth of  wampum  on  the  end  of  a  straw.  He 
accepted  the  humble  present  with  thanks,  "  see- 
ing so  much  hearty  affection  in  so  small  a 
thing,"  and  requested  the  Indian  to  visit  him 
at  his  house. 

The  next  year  Mr.  Eliot  was  personally  in- 
vited by  Passaconaway,  with  earnest  importu- 
nity,  to   live   among   his    people,  and  be  their 

*  Shepard's  Cleare  Sunshine,  fy-c,  p.  32.  Winslow's 
Glorious  Progresse  of  the  Gospel,  p.  9. 


110  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

teacher.  The  sachem  thought  that  his  visits 
once  a  year  did  but  little  good,  because  in  the 
long  intervals  his  people  were  apt  to  forget 
what  they  had  heard.  Many  of  them,  he  said, 
were  naught,  and  required  long  and  patient 
teaching.  He  illustrated  his  meaning  by  a 
comparison  not  inaptly  stated.  "  You  do," 
said  he,  "  as  if  one  should  come  and  throw  a 
fine  thing  among  us,  and  we  should  catch  at  it 
earnestly,  because  it  appears  so  beautiful,  but 
cannot  look  at  it  to  see  what  is  within ;  there 
may  be  in  it  something  or  nothing,  a  stock,  a 
stone,  or  a  precious  treasure  ;  but  if  it  be 
opened,  and  we  see  what  is  valuable  therein, 
then  we  think  much  of  it.  So  you  tell  us  of 
religion,  and  we  like  it  very  well  at  first  sight, 
but  we  know  not  what  is  within ;  it  may  be 
excellent,  or  it  may  be  nothing,  we  cannot  tell ; 
but  if  you  will  stay  with  us,  and  open  it  to  us, 
and  show  us  all  within,  we  shall  believe  it  to 
be  as  good  as  you  say  it  is." 

These  "  elegant  arguments,"  as  Eliot  calls 
them,  he  applied  with  much  wisdom  and  affec- 
tion. He  was  doubtless  sincere  and  in  earnest, 
and  he  probably  continued  strongly  attached  to 
his  new  religion.  The  appropriate  comparison 
which  he  used  on  this  occasion,  it  may  be  re- 
marked, more  resembles  the  style  of  speaking 
among  a  civilized  people,  than  those  bold,  ab- 
rupt,   and   violent  figures,  which  are  commonly 


JOHN     ELIOT.  Ill 

considered  as  characteristic  of  Indian  elo- 
quence. His  speech  was  that  of  a  reasonable 
man,  and  could  not  fail  to  arrest  attention.  It 
had  been  for  some  time  a  favorite  project  with 
Mr.  Eliot  to  establish  an  Indian  town,  which 
might  form  a  sort  of  central  point  for  the  Chris- 
tian natives ;  and  his  heart  yearned  towards 
Passaconaway's  earnest  proposal. 

But  there  were  weighty  objections,  as  he 
thought,  to  the  plan  of  fixing  his  town  in  that 
region.  The  Indians  in  his  own  vicinity,  on 
whom  he  must  principally  rely  as  the  best  ma- 
terials for  the  nucleus  of  such  a  settlement, 
were  unwilling  to  remove  thither ;  though  they 
said  they  would,  if  necessary,  go  to  any  place 
with  him.  This  affecting  expression  of  their 
confidence  made  him  more  reluctant  to  cross 
their  inclinations ;  and,  as  he  cherished  the 
hope  that  he  should  need  more  than  one  town, 
he  probably  thought  the  time  would  come,  when 
Passaconaway's  wish  for  a  settlement  in  his 
domains  might  be  gratified.* 

Before  this  time,  Mr.  Eliot  had  visited  Nash- 
away,  now  called  Lancaster ;  but  I  find  no  par- 
ticular account  of  his  doings  there.  We  know, 
however,  that  the  sachem  was  much  interested 
in  his  favor;  and  he  alludes  to  his  having 
preached  at  the  place.     There  was   an  old   sa- 

*  Whitfield's  Farther  Discovery  of  the  Present  State  of 
the  Indians,  Sfc,  p.  20. 


112  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

chem  at  Quabagud  or  Quaboag,  now  Brook- 
field,  a  place  which  Eliot  describes  as  "three 
score  miles  westward  "  (that  is,  from  his  resi- 
dence in  Roxbury),  who  earnestly  wished  to 
prevail  upon  him  to  visit  his  people,  and  even 
to  make  his  abode  there.  He  undertook  a  jour- 
ney thither,  and  went  by  the  way  of  Nashaway. 
There  had  been  some  disturbances  between  the 
Narraganset  and  Mohegan  Indians,  and  seve- 
ral had  been  murdered  in  or  about  the  region, 
which  he  proposed  to  visit.  This  circumstance 
threw  some  doubt  on  the  minds  of  the  Roxbury 
church,  whether  it  might  be  safe  for  their  pas- 
tor to  venture  thither. 

When  the  Nashaway  sachem  heard  of  this, 
he  commanded  twenty  of  his  men  to  take  arms 
and  be  ready  to  protect  the  missionary,  and 
added  himself  to  the  number.  Besides  this 
force,  several  of  the  Indians  in  Eliot's  neigh- 
borhood, and  some  of  his  English  friends,  at- 
tended him  as  a  guard.  He  was  much  gratified 
by  the  promptness  of  the  natives  in  protecting 
him  from  harm,  because  he  regarded  it  as  a 
proof  of  their  interest,  not  in  himself  only,  but 
in  his  work.  When  he  arrived  at  the  place  of 
his  destination,  he  found  "  sundry  hungry  after 
instruction " ;  but  of  the  particulars  of  his 
ministration  we  have  no  account. 

The  journey  proved  exceedingly  wearisome 
and  exhausting.     It  may   serve  to   give  us  an 


JOHN     ELIOT.  113 

idea  of  the  toil  and  suffering,  which  this  de- 
voted evangelist  sometimes  incurred  in  the 
course  of  his  labors.  The  company  were  ex- 
posed to  continual  rains  and  bad  weather,  with 
no  protection.  They  were  drenched  with  wet; 
and  Eliot  says,  that  from  Tuesday  to  Saturday 
he  was  never  dry,  night  or  day.  At  night  he 
would  pull  off  his  boots,  wring  the  water  from 
his  stockings,  and  put  them  on  again.  The 
rivers  were  swollen  by  the  rains  ;  and,  as  they 
made  their  way  through  them  on  horseback, 
they  were  still  more  wet.  Eliot's  horse  failed 
from  exhaustion,  and  he  was  obliged  to  let  him 
go  without  a  rider,  and  take  one  belonging  to 
another  person.  But  he  says,  with  his  usual 
piety  of  feeling,  "  God  stept  in  and  helped;  I 
considered  that  word  of  God,  Endure  hardness 
as  a  good  soldier  of  Christ."  From  this  fa- 
tiguing and  perilous  excursion  the  company 
returned  home  in  safety  and  health.* 

In  the  proceedings,  which  took  place  in  con- 
sequence of  the  murders  above  mentioned,  Mr. 
Eliot  had  some  agency,  of  which  it  is  proper 
to  take  notice.  The  murdered  Indians  were 
supposed  to  be  among  those,  who  were  under 
the  jurisdiction  and  protection  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts government.  Acting  on  this  belief, 
the  Governor  and  magistrates  sent  twenty  men 

*  Eliot's  letter  to  Winslow  in  Farther  Discovery,  ty-c, 
p.  21. 

vol.  v.  8  L  2 


114  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

to  Nashaway  to  ascertain  the  facts  of  the  case, 
and,  if  possible,  to  arrest  the  murderers.  But 
the  criminals  had  escaped  to  Narraganset ;  and 
the  men  sent  by  the  Massachusetts  government, 
on  their  return,  could  only  report,  that  the  crime 
had  been  perpetrated,  and  that  it  was  well  un- 
derstood who  were  concerned  in  it.  After- 
wards the  sachem  Cutshamakin  procured  two 
Indians,  who  offered  to  apprehend  the  mur- 
derers. The  reason  why  this  sachem  inter- 
posed in  the  affair  was,  that  three  of  the  mur- 
dered men  belonged  to  a  party  at  Quaboag, 
with  whom  he  was  in  a  treaty  of  friendship, 
and  whom,  indeed,  he  considered  somewhat  in 
the  light  of  subjects.  The  magistrates  ac- 
cepted the  offer  of  the  two  Indians,  gave  them 
a  commission,  and  wrote  to  Mr.  Pynchon  of 
Springfield  to  assist  them  in  the  search. 

But  Pynchon's  reply  put  a  stop  to  the  pro- 
ceedings. He  maintained,  that  the  murdered 
Indians  were  not  the  subjects,  nor  the  murder- 
ers within  the  jurisdiction,  of  the  Massachu- 
setts government,  and  that  by  prosecuting  the 
matter  they  would  be  in  danger  of  stirring  up 
a  war.  It  is  in  this  letter  of  Pynchon,  that  the 
mention  of  Mr.  Eliot's  agency  occurs.  It 
seems  that  Cutshamakin,  who  of  course  was 
well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Eliot,  had  prevailed 
upon  him  to  use  his  influence  with  the  magis- 
trates to  procure  the  desired  assistance.     Pyn- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  115 

chon  says,  that  in  this  the  Indians  of  Quaboag 
"dealt  subtly."  Eliot  wrote  a  letter  to  Pyn- 
chon, in  which  he  exhorted  him  to  assist  the 
two  Indian  agents  in  their  inquest  about  the 
murder,  urging-  the  command  of  God  to  make 
inquisition  for  blood,  and  denying  that  there 
was  any  danger  of  war  in  consequence  of  this 
proceeding.  Upon  this  Pynchon  remarks,  that 
if  the  murdered  had  been  subjects  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  the  murderers  within  the  juris- 
diction of  that  government,  Mr.  Eliot's  appeal 
would  have  been  seasonable  and  appropriate; 
but,  the  facts  being  otherwise,  it  was  of  no 
avail.  Governor  Winthrop  desired,  that  Eliot 
might  immediately  be  made  acquainted  with 
this  letter  of  Pynchon.  Dudley,  the  deputy- 
governor,  had  a  conference  with  Eliot  on  the 
subject ;  and  they  concluded,  for  various  rea- 
sons, to  advise  that  a  stop  should  be  put  to 
any  further  proceedings.* 

Mr.  Eliot  may  have  been  in  an  error,  as  to 
the  point  of  jurisdiction  ;  but  his  active  share 
in  this  transaction  unquestionably  arose  from 
his  strong  desire  to  have  such  justice  adminis- 
tered for  the  crime  of  shedding  blood,  as  would 
conciliate  the  feelings  of  the  Indians  by  con- 
vincing   them,  that   in  the   English  they    had 

#  Savage's  Winthrop,  Vol.  II.  p.  325,  and  Appendix, 
pp.  384 -387. 


116  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

friends,  who  would  not  see  them  injured  with 
impunity. 

It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  1647,  or  in  1648y 
that  Mr.  Eliot,  with  Wilson  of  Boston  and 
Shepard  of  Cambridge,  visited  Yarmouth  on 
Cape  Cod.  The  harmony  of  the  church  in  that 
place  had  been  disturbed  by  some  unhappy  dif- 
ficulties ;  and  these  clergymen  with  others  from 
Plymouth  colony  met,  I  suppose  as  a  council,  to 
heal  the  breach,  and  bring  into  union  the  con- 
tending parties.  This  they  accomplished  most 
satisfactorily,  and  Christian  harmony  was  re- 
stored to  the  church  and  town. 

But  Eliot  did  not  consider  his  errand  to  this 
place  as  finished.  The  object,  which  was  ha- 
bitually uppermost  in  his  thoughts,  failed  not 
to  claim  his  attention.  He  gladly  availed  him- 
self of  the  opportunity  to  visit  the  Indians  in 
that  region,  and  present  to  them  the  word  of 
life.  It  was  with  difficulty  that  they  under- 
stood him.  The  dialect  of  the  Indians  in  that 
quarter  was  found  to  differ  considerably  from 
that  of  the  natives  in  the  neighborhood  of  Bos- 
ton and  in  the  western  parts  of  Massachusetts. 
Varieties  of  this  kind  were  often  observed  in  a 
range  of  forty  or  sixty  miles.*     Besides,  these 

*  One  of  the  obstacles  to  the  diffusion  of  Christianity 
among  the  natives  of  New  England  was  "  the  diversity  of 
their  owne  language  to  itself,  every  part  of  that  countrey 
having  its  owne  dialect,  differing  much  from  the  other."  -  - 
Nev>  England's  First  Fruits,  p.  1. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  117 

Indians  were  unaccustomed  to  those  words  and 
forms  of  speech  used  for  the  expression  of  re- 
ligious thoughts  or  conceptions,  to  the  acquisi- 
tion of  which  Mr.  Eliot  had  been  led  by  the 
nature  of  his  mission  to  give  his  principal  at- 
tention. In  order  to  make  himself  intelligible 
to  them,  he  was  obliged  to  use  much  circumlo- 
cution, and  put  his  remarks  into  various  forms, 
besides  availing  himself  of  the  aid  of  inter- 
preters who  happened  to  be  present.  He  over- 
came all  difficulties,  and  made  himself  under- 
stood. 

At  this  place  there  was  no  little  opposition 
to  Eliot's  preaching,  especially  by  a  reckless 
sachem,  to  whom,  on  account  of  his  fierce  and 
furious  spirit,  the  English  gave  the  sobriquet  of 
Jehu.  He  promised  fairly  enough,  that  on  the 
appointed  day  he  would  attend  the  religious 
services,  and  bring  his  men  with  him.  But, 
when  the  day  came,  he  sent  his  men  away  early 
in  the  morning  to  sea,  on  the  pretence,  that 
they  must  get  some  fish.  He  himself  went  to 
hear  the  sermon,  though  late ;  but,  when  there, 
he  affected  not  to  understand  any  thing,  though 
some  of  the  Indians  assured  Mr.  Eliot,  that  he 
did  understand  as  well  as  any  of  them.  Still 
he  would  sit  and  listen  with  dogged  sullenness 
and  a  dissatisfied  look.  There  was  probably 
as  much  of  waggery,  as  of  ill  nature  or  malice, 
in  his  conduct.     There  is  something  adapted  to 


118  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

excite  a  smile  in  the  grave  but  unsuccessful 
attempt  of  the  divines  to  manage  this  intracta- 
ble and  mischievous  spirit. 

There  was  another  sachem  of  a  better  tem- 
per and  more  pliable  disposition,  who  lent  a 
willing  ear  to  instruction,  and  whose  people 
were  attentive  and  docile.  It  was  here,  that, 
at  the  usual  time  for  proposing  questions,  an 
aged  Indian  made  a  statement,  which  at  first 
struck  those  who  heard  it  with  surprise,  but 
was  found  to  admit  an  easy  explanation.  He 
affirmed,  that  the  very  things  which  Mr.  Eliot 
had  just  taught  concerning  the  creation,  the 
nature  of  God,  and  his  commandments,  had 
been  said  years  ago  by  some  old  men  among 
them,  who  were  now  dead,  and  since  whose 
death  all  knowledge  or  remembrance  of  these 
doctrines  had  been  lost,  till  they  were  revived 
by  what  they  had  now  heard.  In  a  more  figu- 
rative manner,  the  same  fact  was  expressed  by 
others  to  a  Christian  in  that  region,  who  com- 
municated it  to  Eliot  and  his  companions  at 
this  time.  They  said  that  their  forefathers 
once  knew  God,  but  that  afterwards  their  peo- 
ple fell  into  a  heavy  sleep ;  and  when  they 
awoke,  they  had  forgotten  him. 

These  statements,  implying  that  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  true  religion  was  possessed  by  the 
natives  before  their  acquaintance  with  the 
English,   excited    curiosity  and   inquiry.      Mr. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  119 

Shepard  supposed,  that  the  fact  might  be  ac- 
counted for  by  the  circumstance  of  a  French 
preacher  having  been  cast  away  on  that  coast 
many  years  before,  whose  instructions  might 
have  given  the  Indians  of  that  day  such  an 
acquaintance  with  religion,  as  was  reported  of 
them. 

Shepard  was  doubtless  right  in  his  conjec- 
ture. About  three  years  before  the  Plymouth 
settlers  arrived,  a  French  ship  was  wrecked  on 
Cape  Cod.  The  lives  of  the  men  were  saved, 
and  they  reached  the  shore.  But  they  were  all 
killed  by  the  Indians,  except  three  or  four,  who 
were  kept  and  sent  from  one  sachem  to  another. 
Two  of  them  were  redeemed  by  Mr.  Dormer, 
and  another  died  among  the  natives.  One  of 
them  lived  with  the  Indians  long  enough  to  be 
able  to  use  their  language.  He  instructed 
them  in  religion,  and,  among  other  things,  told 
them,  that  God  was  angry  for  their  wickedness, 
that  he  would  destroy  them,  and  give  their 
country  to  another  people.  The  natives  replied 
in  derision,  that  they  were  too  numerous  for 
God  to  kill  them.  Soon  after  the  death  of  the 
Frenchman,  multitudes  of  them  were  swept 
away  by  a  terrible  pestilence.  They  now  be- 
gan, with  the  superstition  natural  to  savages, 
to  think  that  one  part  of  the  prediction  they 
had  despised  was  fulfilled ;  and,  when  the  Ply- 
mouth  settlers   came,   they    apprehended   that 


120  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

the  other  part  was  about  to  be  accomplished. 
When  they  afterwards  became  acquainted  with 
the  English,  several  of  the  oldest  and  most 
trustworthy  among  them  related  these  facts.* 
The  story  accounts  sufficiently  for  the  declara- 
tion made  by  the  Indians  to  Eliot,  Shepard, 
and  Wilson,  respecting  the  religious  knowledge 
of  their  fathers. 

It  may  be  here  observed,  that  Mayhew  re- 
lates a  similar,  but  less  precise  remark,  made  by 
one  of  the  natives  on  Martha's  Vineyard.  The 
Indian  said,  that  "  a  long  time  ago  their  people 
had  wise  men,  who  in  a  grave  manner  taught 
them  knowledge ;  but,"  he  added,  "  they  are 
dead,  and  their  wisdom  is  buried  with  them; 
and  now  men  live  a  giddy  life  in  ignorance  till 
they  are  white-headed,  and  go  without  wisdom 
unto  their  graves."  f  This  speech  may  have 
referred  to  the  same  reminiscence  of  a  better 
knowledge,  which  is  explained  by  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  Frenchman;  or  it  may  have  been 
merely  one  of  those  complaints  of  the  degener- 
acy of  present  times,  the  disposition  to  which 
is  perhaps  too  natural  to  man  to  be  confined  to 
the  civilized. 

*  See  Judge  Davis's  edition  of  Morton's  New  Eng- 
land's Memorial,  p.  GO;  also  Mr.  Savage's  remark  in  his 
notes  on  Winthrop,  Vol.  I.  p.  59. 

f  Mayhew's  letter  to  Winslow  in  Glorious  Progresse, 
tfc,  p.  5. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  121 

Another  circumstance,  which  interested  Mr. 
Eliot  and  his  companions,  was  the  relation  of 
a  dream  by  an  Indian  in  these  parts.  He  said, 
that  about  two  years  before  the  English  came 
over,  a  very  destructive  sickness  prevailed 
among  the  Indians.  One  night,  when  his  sleep 
was  broken  and  troubled,  he  saw,  in  a  dream, 
a  multitude  of  men  coming  to  that  region, 
dressed  in  precisely  such  garments  as  he  now 
found  the  English  to  wear.  Among  them  was 
one  man  all  in  black,  with  something  in  his 
hand,  which  he  now  discovered  to  have  been  a 
book,  such  as  the  English  carry.  The  man  in 
black  stood  higher  than  the  rest,  having  the 
Indians  on  one  side  and  the  English  on  the 
other.  He  assured  the  Indians,  that  God  was 
angry  with  them,  and  would  destroy  them  for 
their  sins.  Upon  this,  the  dreamer  stood  up, 
and  begged  to  know  what  God  would  do  with 
him,  and  his  squaw,  and  papooses.  This  ques- 
tion he  repeated  three  times,  when  his  fears 
were  relieved  by  being  told,  that  they  would 
all  be  safe,  and  that  God  would  give  them  vic- 
tuals and  good  things.  Such  was  the  vision 
of  the  night,  which  the  savage  had  to  relate. 

No  one,  I  presume,  at  the  present  day  will 
be  disposed  to  inquire,  whether  it  were  pro- 
phetic, or  will  think  the  Indian  had  reason  to 
say  with  Eve, 

"  For  God  is  also  in  sleep,  and  dreams  advise, 
Which  he  hath  sent  propitious,  some  great  good 

M 


122  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Presaging-,  since  with  sorrow  and  heart's  distress 
Wearied  I  fell  asleep." 

But  Shepard,  who  tells  the  story,  while  he  pro- 
fesses to  have  little  faith  in  dreams,  yet  in- 
clines to  think,  that  God  may  see  fit  to  speak 
in  this  way  to  the  Indians,  when  he  would  not 
to  those  who  have  a  more  sure  word  of  warn- 
ing and  direction.  His  construction  is  more 
favorable  to  the  savages,  than  the  poetic  judg- 
ment of  Claudian,  who  declares  that 

"Barbarians  never  taste  the  hallowed  streams 
Of  prophecy,  nor  are  inspired  by  dreams."  * 

The  simple  truth  of  the  case  is,  that  the  dream 
may  be  easily  explained  by  adverting  again  to 
the  story  of  the  French  priest.  The  circum- 
stances of  it  have  a  sufficient  resemblance  to 
the  facts  of  that  story ;  and  it  occurred  during 
the  prevalence  of  the  fearful  sickness,  when 
the  mind  of  the  Indian  was  harassed  by  the 
alarm,  which  the  Frenchman's  prediction  had 
awakened.  He  saw  in  his  sleep  a  confused 
image,  with  some  additions,  of  what  he  had 
seen,  or  heard  of,  when  the  man  in  black  an- 
nounced the  judgments  of  God.  The  story 
thus  explained  is  of  some  value,  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  laws  that  prevail  in  the  phenomena 
of  dreams. 

*  "  Nullus  Castalios  latices,  et  prscscia  fati 
Flumina;  polluto  barbarus  ore  bibit." 

Claudian.  In  Ruf.  Lib.  n.  Prsef. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  123 

The  man  who  told  this  dream  proved  to  be  no 
hopeful  hearer  of  the  word.  Mr.  Eliot  and  his 
brethren  flattered  themselves,  that  the  vision  he 
had  received  would  dispose  him  to  attend  par- 
ticularly to  the  men  in  black,  who  had  now  come. 
But  his  dream  seems  to  have  had  no  such  stim- 
ulating effect.  He  withdrew  from  the  sermon, 
though  he  came  again  at  the  latter  part  of  it, 
"hoping  it  had  been  done."  The  ministers 
then  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to  stay ;  but 
"  away  he  flung,"  and  they  saw  no  more  of  him 
till  the  next  day.  Of  the  effect  produced  by 
their  labors  in  this  quarter,  we  have  no  suffi- 
ciently particular  statement  to  form  an  es- 
timate.* 

#  The  only  account  of  this  visit  to  Yarmouth,  which  I 
have  seen,  is  in  Shepard's  Cleave  Sun-shine,  fyc.,  pp.  8  - 10. 


124  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Eliofs  Care  of  Nonantum.  —  Questions.  —  Eliofs 
Endeavors  to  interest  Others  in  the  Cause. — 
His  Need  of  Assistance.  —  Society  for  Propa- 
gating the  Gospel  among  the  Indians  established 
in  England. 

The  little  establishment  at  Nonantum  con- 
tinued an  object  of  as  lively  interest  to  Mr. 
Eliot  as  ever;  perhaps  more  so  than  any  other 
scene  of  labor,  because  his  first  converts  were 
there.  In  1649,  he  wrote  to  a  gentleman  in 
England,  who  had  advised  him  to  encourage 
his  Christian  Indians  to  plant  orchards  and 
cultivate  gardens.  This  he  had  already  done. 
He  had  promised  them  several  hundred  trees, 
which  were  reserved  in  nurseries  for  them,  and 
which  he  hoped  they  would  plant  the  next 
spring.  They  were  then  engaged  in  fencing  a 
large  cornfield,  and  had  finished  two  hundred 
rods  of  ditching,  securing  the  banks  with 
stones  gathered  from  the  fields. 

Mr.  Eliot  complains  of  bad  tools,  and  of  a 
want  of  tools,  and  says  that  a  magazine  of  all 
necessary  implements  must  be  provided  for 
them.  He  tells  his  correspondent,  that  they 
were  able  to  saw  very  good  boards  and  planks, 


JOHN     ELIOT.  125 

and  that  they  would  do  all  these  things  better, 
and  in  a  more  orderly  manner,  if  he  could  be 
with  them  more  frequently.  He  found  them 
willingr  to  follow  his  advice,  but  was  prudent 
enough  not  to  require  a  ereat  deal  of  them  at 
first.  "  I  find  it  absolutely  necessary,*-'  he  ob- 
serves, "  to  carry  on  civility  with  religion."' 
The  best  mode  of  effecting  his  objects,  as  he 
believed,  would  be  to  establish  a  settlement  for 
the  Indians  in  some  place  distant  from  the 
English,  to  live  among  them,  to  brinsf  them 
under  a  regular  form  of  orovernment,  and  into 
the  practice  of  the  mechanical  arts  and  trades. 
It  gives  us  an  affecting  idea  of  the  poverty  of 
our  venerated  fathers,  when  he  adds,  that  such 
an  enterprise  would  be  too  costly  for  New  Eng- 
land at  that  time,  which  was  her  day  of  small 
thin  _ 

Schools  for  the  natives  were  favorite  objects 
with  our  apostle.  A  gentleman  in  London, 
whose  name  he  never  knew,  had  in  164S  sent 
him  ten  pounds  for  that  purpose.  Eive  pounds 
he  paid  to  a  woman  in  Cambridge  for  teaching 
Indian  children;  •'•'and,'"  says  he,  •'•'  God  so 
blessed  her  labors,  that  they  came  on  very 
prettily.''  The  other  five  pounds  he  paid  to  a 
schoolmaster  in  Dorchester,  who  taught  the 
children  of  the  natives  with  very  grood  success. 
He  feared,  however,  that  the  schools  would 
fail,  as  he  could  hear  of  no   further  supply  iov 

M2 


126  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

their  support,  and  so  the  children  would  lose 
all  they  had  learned  the  first  year.  His  own 
course  of  catechizing  the  young,  whenever  he 
held  a  meeting,  he  continued  constantly,  and 
found  their  proficiency  very  encouraging.* 

These  are  specimens  of  the  minute  and  hum- 
ble labors,  to  which  this  devoted  man  gave  his 
time  and  heart,  that  he  miodit  bless  the  unen- 
lightened  with  civilization  and  Christianity. 
Many  were  his  hindrances  and  discourage- 
ments ;  but  he  always  toiled  in  the  cheerful- 
ness of  hope.  Is  there  not  something  touch- 
ing in  the  incidental  remark  he  makes,  that  "  it 
is  hard  to  look  on  the  day  of  small  things  with 
patience  enough  "  ? 

Many  of   the  questions   propounded  by  the 

*  Glorious  Progresse  of  the  Gospel,  &c,  p.  16.  —  Mr. 
Eliot  was  pleased  with  his  success  among  the  Indian  chil- 
dren, whose  docility  and  good  progress  he  on  several  occa- 
sions praises.  In  this  respect  he  was  more  fortunate  than 
was  Mr.  Egede  with  the  Greenland  boys,  whom  he  took 
into  his  house,  and  of  whom  we  are  told,  "as  to  their  learn- 
ing, it  went  briskly  at  first,  because  they  had  a  fish-hook, 
or  some  such  thing,  given  them  for  every  letter  they  learnt. 
But  they  were  soon  glutted  with  this  business,  and  said, 
they  knew  not  what  end  it  answered  to  sit  all  day  long 
looking  upon  a  piece  of  paper,  and  crying  a,  b,  c,  &c. ;  that 
he  and  the  factor  were  worthless  people,  because  they  did 
nothing  but  look  in  a  book,  or  scrawl  upon  paper  with  a 
feather  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  Greenlanders  were  brave 
men,  they  would  hunt  seals,  shoot  birds,  &c."  —  Crantz's 
History  of  Greenland,  Vol.  I.  p.  290. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  127 

Indians  about  this  time  sufficiently  prove,  that 
they  were  neither  dull  hearers  nor  thoughtless 
men.  Specimens  of  them  are  recorded  by  their 
teacher  ;  and  they  are  found  to  be  full  of  mean- 
ing. The  true  principle  of  moral  and  mental 
life  must  have  been  awakened,  or  they  could 
not  have  been  suggested.  They  show,  as  Mr. 
Eliot  justly  remarks,  that  "  the  souls  of  these 
men  were  in  a  searching  condition  after  the 
great  points  of  religion  and  salvation." 

Meanwhile  the  Indian  apostle  endeavored  to 
inspire  his  brethren  in  the  ministry  and  others 
with  a  zeal  kindred  to  that  of  which  his  own 
heart  was  full.  The  sachem  Cutshamakin  had 
some  subjects  at  Martha's  Vineyard.  They 
had  been  moved  by  his  example  to  adopt  the 
new  religion,  and  were  reckoned  in  the  number 
of  "praying  Indians." 

In  1648  Mr.  Eliot  speaks  of  having  entreated 
the  younger  Mayhew,  who  was  the  minister  at 
the  Vineyard,  to  attend  to  the  religious  wants 
of  these  Indians.  To  this  call  Mayhew  was 
not  inattentive.  Indeed  he  had  for  some  time 
been  engaged  in  learning  the  language  of  the 
natives,  with  a  view  to  the  introduction  of 
Christianity  among  them.  Eliot  speaks  with 
thankful  emotion  of  the  success  of  his  efforts. 
He  afterwards  recurs  to  the  subject,  and  ex- 
presses his  gratitude  for  the  blessing  of  God 
on  Mayhew's  labors,  hoping  that  the  natives  at 


128  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

the  Vineyard  would  be  prepared  to  form  a  reg- 
ular civil  and  religious  settlement,  when  they 
should  see  a  successful  experiment  of  that  kind 
in  another  place,  such  as  he  had  set  his  heart 
on  endeavoring  to  effect.  His  friendship  foi 
Mr.  Mayhew  is  further  evinced  by  the  pains  he 
took  to  procure  books  for  him.  In  a  letter 
sent  to  England  about  this  time,  he  mentions 
him  with  much  affection,  as  a  young  beginner, 
who  is  in  extreme  want  of  books  ;  he  begs, 
therefore,  that  commentaries,  and  all  the  works 
necessary  for  a  young  minister,  may  be  for- 
warded by  the  benevolent.  It  was  a  request 
on  which  he  laid  much  stress.* 

Our  good  evangelist  was  importunate  with 
all  the  ministers,  who  lived  near  the  Indians,  to 
learn  their  language,  and  put  their  hands  to 
the  work  of  spreading  among  them  the  knowl- 
edge of  God.  Having  mentioned  these  solici- 
tations, he  adds,  "  I  hope  God  will  in  his  time 
bow  their  hearts  thereunto."  These  anxious 
desires  for  cooperation  were  naturally  dictated 
by  the  strength  of  his  own  feelings  for  the 
cause,  and  by  his  heartfelt  conviction  of  its 
great  importance.  There  is  an  expansive  ac- 
tion in  moral  warmth,  like  that  which  belongs 
to  heat  in  the  natural  world.  It  cannot  remain 
shut  up  in  the  heart   where   it   originates,  but 

*  Eliot's  letters  in  3  M.  H.  Coll.  IV.  81,  128. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  129 

evei  seeks  to  diffuse  itself.  No  man  can  work 
heartily  for  truth  or  benevolence,  without  en- 
deavoring to  infuse  into  others  something  of  the 
spirit  by  which  he  is  himself  animated  and 
impelled. 

Hitherto  the  Apostle  to  the  Indians  had  per- 
severed in  his  pious  enterprise  with  compara- 
tively little  aid.  He  had  received  indeed  the 
encouraging  sympathy  of  many  around  him, 
both  of  the  clergy  and  the  laity.  Some  of  the 
ministers,  the  Governor,  and  other  magistrates 
were  frequently  present  at  his  leetures.  They 
cheered  his  spirit  and  strengthened  his  hands 
by  giving  him  their  countenance  and  occasional 
assistance.  But  nearly  the  whole  burden  of 
the  undertaking  rested  on  him  ;  and  the  time 
seemed  to  have  arrived,  when,  if  it  was  to  be 
sustained  and  enlarged,  some  efficient  help 
would  be  necessary.  Shepard,  who  had  taken 
an  active  and  hearty  interest  in  Mr.  Eliot's 
success,  and  had  often  been  his  companion  in 
the  work,  died  in  1649.  The  loss  of  such  a 
friend  and  counsellor  must  have  pressed  heav- 
ily on  the  heart  of  the  good   evangelist. 

The  efforts  he  had  already  made  appeared  to 
have  been  sufficiently  successful  to  encourage 
more  extensive  plans  of  benevolence  for  the 
Indians.  It  has  been  before  mentioned,  that 
his  favorite  project  was  to  bring  them  together 
in  well-ordered  towns,  where   industrious   em- 

vol.  v.  9 


130  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

ployment  in  the  several  arts  and  trades,  and 
general  improvement  in  civil  affairs,  might  ad- 
vance hand  in  hand  with  religious  instruction. 
This  wisely  conceived  part  of  his  plan  lay  near 
his  heart ;  but  it  could  not  be  accomplished 
without  considerable  assistance.  Such  assist- 
ance, as  we  have  seen,  he  could  not  and  did 
not  expect  from  the  infant  colony ;  for  New 
England,  who  now  makes  every  ocean  white 
with  her  commerce,  and  over  whose  hills  and 
by  whose  rivers  prosperous  villages  and  wealthy 
towns  are  at  this  day  scattered  broadcast,  was 
then  scarcely  able  to  sustain  her  own  few  and 
poor  settlements  in  the  wilderness.  Some  pe- 
cuniary aid,  however,  Mr.  Eliot  received  from 
an  appropriation  made  by  order  of  the  Gene- 
ral  Court.*      While  he  was   grateful  for    this 

*  This  was  in  May,  1647.  The  order  was  as  follows ; 
"It  is  ordered,  that  ten  pounds  be  given  to  Mr.  Eliot,  as  a 
gratuity  from  this  Court,  in  respect  of  his  pains  in  instruct- 
ing the  Indians  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  that  order  be 
taken  that  the  twenty  pounds  per  annum,  given  by  the  Lady 
Armine  for  that  purpose,  may  be  called  for  and  employed 
accordingly."  See  Savage's  note  on  Winthrop,  Vol.  II. 
p.  305.  The  benefaction  of  Lady  Armine,  here  mentioned, 
is  recorded  by  Winthrop,  Vol.  II.  p.  212 ;  but  he  does  not 
state  for  what  purpose  it  was  given.  It  appears,  by  the  or- 
der of  the  Court,  to  have  been  designed  to  promote  the  In- 
dian work. 

From  the  above  statement  we  learn,  that  Gookin  was 
not  quite  correct,  when  he  said,  "  In  this  work  did  this  good 
man  [Eliot]  industriously  travail  sundry  years,  without  any 


JOHN     ELIOT.  131 

proffered  bounty,  he  must  still  have  been  aware 
that  the  further  extension  of  his  efforts  would 
require  a  larger  supply  than  could  be  looked 
for  at  home. 

At  this  juncture  his  heart  was  gladdened  by 
assistance  from  the  mother  country.  The  la- 
bors for  the  conversion  of  the  Indians  had  been 
reported  in  England,  and  had  excited  not  a 
little  attention.  The  tract  entitled  "  The  Day- 
Breaking,  if  not  the  Sun-Rising  of  the  Gospel" 
&c,  and  Shepard's  "  Cleare  Sun-shine  of  the 
Gospel"  &c,  in  which  was  given  an  interest-' 
ing  account  of  these  labors,  had  been  published 
in  London.  Shepard's  papers  on  the  subject 
were  sent  to  Edward  Winslow,  who  had  gone 
to  England  as  agent  for  the  colony.  This 
gentleman  communicated  them  to  some  of  the 
most  distinguished  clergymen  in  and  about 
London,  such  as  Marshall,  Goodwin,  Whitaker, 
and  Calamy,  who,  when  the  papers  were  pub- 
lished, prefaced  them  with  two  very  fervent 
epistles,  one  addressed  to  the  Parliament,  the 
other  "  to  the  godly  and  well-affected  "   of  the 

external  encouragement,  from  men  I  mean,  as  to  the  re- 
ceiving any  salary  or  reward.  Indeed,  verbal  encourage- 
ments, and  the  presence  of  divers  persons  at  his  lectures, 
he  wanted  not."  — 1  M.  H.  Coll.,  1. 169.  It  may  be  that 
Eliot,  in  his  usual  spirit  of  disinterestedness,  did  not  accept 
the  gratuity  of  ten  pounds  ;  but  the  offer  of  it  by  the  Court 
proves,  that  he  received  somewhat  more  than  merely 
"verbal  encouragements." 


132  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

nation.  In  these  an  earnest  call  was  sounded 
for  interest  and  help  in  the  work  of  converting 
the  natives  of  New  England. 

The  appeal  to  Parliament  was  not  made  in 
vain.  An  order  was  passed,  March  17th,  1647, 
requiring  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Planta- 
tions to  prepare  an  ordinance  "  for  the  encour- 
agement and  advancement  of  learning  and 
piety  in  New  England."  The  committee  re- 
ported the  result  of  their  deliberations.  It 
does  not  appear  what  course  of  measures,  or 
what  mode  of  action,  they  proposed.  But 
whatever  these  were,  Eliot  was  much  gratified 
with  them  ;  for,  in  a  letter  to  Winslow  the  next 
year,  he  expressed  his  entire  approbation  of 
what  had  been  done,  adding,  "  I  trust  it  is  per- 
fected long  before  this  time."  But  he  ex- 
pected more  than  had  then  been  accomplished. 
At  that  period  of  agitating  excitement,  the 
Parliament  were  so  absorbed  in  other  more 
urgent  business,  that  the  report  of  their  com 
mittee  was  for  some  time  neglected.  Winslow, 
who  felt  a  warm  and  honorable  interest  in  the 
matter,  in  an  "  epistle  dedicatory  "  prefixed  to 
a  tract  which  he  published  in  1649,  ventured 
to  remind  them  of  this  neglect,  and  asked  per- 
mission to  recall  their  attention  to  the  subject. 
By  way  of  appeal  to  their  piety,  he  dropped 
the  hint,  that  doubtless  "  the  common  enemy 
of   man's    salvation"   rejoiced,  when   a    godly 


JOHN     ELIOT.  133 

enterprise,  so  happily  begun,  was  suspended 
for  want  of  further  encouragement ;  and  he 
urged  the  probability,  on  which  so  much  stress 
was  laid  by  many  at  that  time,  that  the  North 
American  Indians  were  the  descendants  of  the 
ten  tribes  of  Israel. 

How  much  influence  this  appeal  may  have 
had  in  exciting  an  immediate  attention  to  the 
subject,  we  know  not ;  but  the  Parliament 
passed  an  ordinance,  July  27th,  1649,  for  the 
advancement  of  civilization  and  Christianity 
among  the  Indians  of  New  England.*  A  cor- 
poration in  perpetual  succession  was  instituted, 
bearing  the  title  of  "  The  President  and  Soci- 
ety for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  New 
England,"  with  power  to  receive,  manage,  and 
dispose  of  moneys  for  that  purpose.  It  was 
also  enacted,  that  a  general  contribution  for 
the  object  should  be  made  through  England 
and  Wales.  The  ministers  were  required  to 
read  the  ordinance  from  their  pulpits,  at  the 
same  time  exhorting  the  people  to  give  gener- 
ous aid  to  the  pious  undertaking.  The  uni- 
versities of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  also  issued 
letters  addressed  to  the  ministers,  calling  upon 
them  to  stir  up  their  congregations  to  the  good 
work.  But,  notwithstanding  this  powerful  in- 
fluence, the  contribution  proceeded  heavily  and 

*  The  breviat  of  this  Act  is  given  in  Hutchinson's 
History  of  Massachusetts,  Vol.  I.  p.  153. 

N 


134  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 

slowly.  It  met  a  warm  opposition  ;  and  the 
whole  plan  of  converting  the  Indians  was  al- 
leged by  many  to  be  merely  a  scheme  to  gather 
money  by  appealing  to  the  piety  of  the  nation. 
So  discouraging  was  the  prospect  of  a  contri- 
bution from  the  people,  that  an  effort  was  made 
to  raise  something  from  the  army. 

But,  in  despite  of  all  opposition,  a  very  con- 
siderable sum  was  collected.  Lands  were  pur- 
chased to  the  value  of  between  five  and  six 
hundred  pounds  a  year,  and  vested  in  a  cor- 
poration, of  which  Judge  Steel  was  the  first 
president,  and  Mr.  Henry  Ashurst  the  first 
treasurer.  Portions  of  the  income  were  from 
time  to  time  transmitted  to  America,  and  en- 
trusted to  the  Commissioners  of  the  United 
Colonies  of  New  England,  who  faithfully  ap- 
propriated the  money  to  the  objects  for  which 
it  was  collected. 

It  appears  from  notices,  which  we  gather  at 
different  periods,  that  salaries  were  paid  to  the 
preachers  engaged  in  the  work;  that  schools 
for  the  Indians  were  supported  ;  tools,  instru- 
ments of  labor,  wool,  and  other  commodities 
provided  for  them;  an  Indian  college  erected, 
and  the  expense  of  printing  Eliot's  Translation 
of  the  Bible  and  of  other  books  defrayed.  The 
last-mentioned  of  these  objects  will  recur  in  a 
subsequent  part  of  this  narrative.  They  were 
the  most   expensive  of  any  to  which  the  funds 


JOHN     ELIOT.  135 

of  the  Society  were  applied.  It  cannot  now 
be  ascertained,  I  suppose,  how  much  Mr.  Eliot 
annually  received  from  this  source.  We  know, 
however,  that  for  the  year  1662,  as  appears 
from  the  account  rendered  by  the  Commission- 
ers, his  salary  was  fifty  pounds.*  This  was  a 
larger  sum,  than  was  granted  to  any  other  in- 
dividual that  year.  It  was,  we  may  presume, 
justly  deemed  a  liberal  allowance. 

On  the  restoration  of  Charles  in  1660,  the 
funds,  and  even  the  existence  of  this  corpora- 
tion, were  endangered.  Some,  who  had  the 
ear  of  the  king,  endeavored  to  persuade  him, 
that  the  act  by  which  the  Society  was  consti- 
tuted, having  been  passed  without  the  royal 
assent,  was  illegal ;  and  they  advised  him  to 
absorb  its  revenues  into  the  royal  coffers.  The 
corporation  had  purchased  an  estate  worth 
three  hundred  and  twenty-two  pounds  per  an- 
num of  one  Colonel  Bedingfield,  a  papist.  This 
man  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  afford- 
ed by  the  restoration,  when  he  supposed  the 
corporation  to  be  dead  in  law,  to  repossess 
himself  of  this  estate.  He  also  refused  to  re- 
pay the  money  he  had  received  for  it. 

At  this  perilous  crisis,  the  Society  found  an 
able  and  efficient  friend  in  the  Honorable  Rob- 
ert Boyle,  a  name  which  so   nobly  adorns    the 

*  Gookin,  1  M.  H.  Coll.,  I.  218. 


136  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

history  of  science  and  of  general  learning  in 
England.  He  promptly  made  use  of  his  inter- 
est with  the  Lord  Chancellor  Clarendon,  to 
avert  the  threatened  injustice,  and  to  reestab- 
lish the  rights  of  the  corporation.*  Richard 
Baxter  and  Mr.  Ashurst  were  likewise  active 
on  the  occasion,  and  their  indefatigable  zeal 
was  of  great  serviccf  The  king,  probably  by 
the  influence  of  Clarendon,  instead  of  listening 
to  the  evil  counsel  he  had  received,  granted  a 
new  charter  to  the  Society,  and  confirmed  its 
rights  under  his  royal  hand. J  Bedingfield  pros- 
ecuted his  claim  by  a  suit  in  chancery,  and  thus 
delayed  the  recovery  of  the  contested  proper- 
ty about  a  year.  But  the  Lord  Chancellor,  who 
in  the  whole  course  of  this  business  had  been 
steadily  favorable  to  the  rights  of  the  Society, 
gave  judgment  against  him,  and  granted  a  de- 
cree for  a  new  corporation. 

Thus  the  question,  in  which  Mr.  Eliot's  favor- 
ite work  in  New  England  was  so  deeply  interest- 
ed, was  happily  settled,  and  the  Society  restored 

#  See  Birch's  Life  of  Boyle,  p.  42,  prefixed  to  the  edi- 
tion of  Boyle's  Works  in  five  volumes,  fol.,  London,  1744. 

f  See  Reliquitz  Baxleriana,  or  Baxter's  Na?~rative  of 
his  Life,  published  by  Sylvester,  p.  290.  Baxter  ascribes 
a  large  share  of  influence  in  this  business  to  himself  and 
Mr.  Ashurst.  There  can  be  little  doubt,  that  the  agency 
of  Boyle  was  more  efficient  than  that  of  any  other  man. 

|  The  charter  may  be  found  in  the  Appendix  to  Birch's 
Life  of  Boyle,  No.  I. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  137 

to  a  secure  course  of  usefulness.  Robert  Boyle 
was  appointed  its  first  governor  under  the  new 
constitution,  and  remained  constantly  devoted 
to  its  interests.  The  sincerity  with  which  he 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  Society  for  Propogat- 
ing  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians,  was  evinced 
by  bestowing  upon  it  a  third  part  of  the  for- 
feited impropriations  in  Ireland,  which  in  1662 
were  granted  to  him  by  the  King.*  An  inter- 
esting correspondence  was  carried  on  from 
time  to  time  between  Mr.  Boyle  and  Mr.  Eliot, 
to  which,  as  well  as  to  some  letters  that  passed 
between  Eliot  and  Richard  Baxter,  I  shall  here- 
after have  occasion  to  refer. f 

*  Birch's  Life  of  Boyle,  p.  41. 

f  Mr.  Boyle's  first  letter  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Col- 
onies, and  their  answer,  are  given  by  Gookin,  1  M.  H.  Coll., 
1.214-218.  They  are  both  valuable,  as  exhibiting  the 
views  and  the  spirit  of  the  leading  men,  who  were  engaged 
in  the  cause. 


N2 


138  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Further  Labors  of  Eliot  among  the  Natives.  — 
His  Letters  to  Winslow.  —  Questions  of  the  In- 
dians. —  Eliofs  Converts  troubled  by  Gorton's 
Doctrines.  —  Desire  of  the  Indians  for  a  Town 
and  School.  —  Opposition  from  the  Powaws 
and  Sachems. 

I  now  return  to  the  story  of  Mr.  Eliot's  exer- 
tions among  the  Indians  ;  but  I  find  it  difficult 
to  arrange  his  labors  in  chronological  order,  on 
account  of  the  disjointed  manner  in  which  they 
are  related  by  himself  and  others. 

We  learn  from  his  statement,  that  the  natives 
in  the  southern  parts  of  Massachusetts  and  the 
adjoining  region  were  in  general  but  little  dis- 
posed to  embrace  Christianity.  There  were  a 
few  "  praying  Indians "  at  Titacut.  Young 
Massasoit  (whom  Eliot  calls  by  his  other  name, 
Ousamequin),  son  of  the  sachem  so  distin- 
guished in  the  history  of  Plymouth,  was  op- 
posed to  all  attempts  at  religious  instruction; 
and  of  his  father  Mr.  Eliot  humorously  says, 
"  The  old  man  is  too  wise  to  look  after  it." 
The  western  Indians  were  found  to  be  more 
docile.  They  listened  to  the  word  with  much 
willingness.     Shawanon,  the  sachem  of  Nasha- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  139 

way,  had  received  Christianity  ;  and  many  of 
his  people,  induced  perhaps  as  much  by  his 
example  as  by  any  other  motive,  had  done  the 
same.  We  have  seen  before,  that  he  was 
friendly  to  Mr.  Eliot,  and  ready  to  defend  him 
in  the  hour  of  danger.  In  the  summer  of  1648, 
the  apostle  visited  his  domain  four  times,  and 
found  a  numerous  people  there.  But,  as  it  was 
nearly  forty  miles  from  his  home,  he  could  not 
be  with  them  so  frequently  as  he  or  they 
wished.  They  begged  him  to  come  oftener 
and  stay  longer.* 

*  When  Shawanon  died,  an  apprehension  was  enter- 
tained, that  his  people  might  choose  such  a  successor,  as 
would  be  friendly  neither  to  Christianity  nor  to  the  Eng- 
lish. To  avert  this  danger,  the  Court  made  use  of  Mr. 
Eliot's  influence  with  the  Indians.  He  and  Mr.  Nowell 
were  sent  to  them  for  the  purpose  of  persuading  them  to 
make  a  proper  choice.  This  fact  I  learn  from  the  follow- 
ing notice,  extracted  from  the  Colony  Records,  under  the 
date  of  October,  1654. 

"  Whereas  Shawanon,  sagamore  of  Nashaway,  is  lately 
dead,  and  another  is  now  suddenly  to  be  chosen  in  his  room, 
they  being  a  great  people  that  have  submitted  to  this  juris- 
diction, and  their  eyes  being  upon  two  or  three  of  the  blood, 
one  whereof  is  very  debased,  and  a  drunken  fellow,  and 
no  friend  of  the  English,  another  is  very  hopeful  to  learn 
the  things  of  Christ ;  —  This  Court  doth  therefore  order, 
that  Mr.  Increase  Nowell  and  Mr.  John  Eliot  shall  and 
hereby  are  desired  to  repair  to  the  Indians,  and  labor  by 
their  best  counsel  to  prevail  with  them  for  the  choosing  of 
such  a  one  as  may  be  most  fit  to  be  their  sagamore,  which 
would  be  a  good  service  to  the  country  " 


140  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

There  are  letters  of  Mr.  Eliot,  written  to 
Winslow  in  1649  and  1650.  From  these  we 
learn  something  of  the  objects  which  engaged 
his  interest.  Winslow  had  informed  him  of  a 
distinguished  Jewish  theologian  at  Amsterdam, 
Rabbi  Ben  Israel,  who  affirmed,  that  the  ten 
tribes  of  Israel  were  certainly  transported  to 
America,  of  which  fact  there  were  "  infallible 
tokens."  Eliot  eagerly  seized  on  this  piece 
of  information,  supposing  it  might  bring  to 
light  new  evidence  for  his  favorite  opinion. 
He  requested  his  correspondent  to  sift  the  mat- 
ter thoroughly,  and  to  learn,  if  possible,  on 
what  grounds  the  Jewish  doctor  had  founded 
his  assertion,  at  what  time,  in  what  manner, 
and  in  what  numbers  the  lost  tribes  had 
reached  America.  In  confirmation  of  the  the- 
ory he  stated,  that  Mr.  Dudley  had  told  him  of 
one  Captain  Cromwell,  lately  deceased  at  Bos- 
ton, who  had  frequently  been  among  Indians  at 
the  south,  that  were  circumcised,  and  had  been 
able  to  ascertain  the  fact  beyond  all  doubt. 
"  This,"  says  Eliot,  "is  one  of-  the  most  prob- 
able arguments  that  ever  I  yet  heard  of."  His 
solicitude  to  have  this  point  proved  did  not 
spring  from  idle  curiosity.  The  inquiry  was. 
one  of  those,  which  clustered  around  the  cen- 
tral interest  of  his  soul;  for,  if  it  could  be 
shown,  that  the  Indians  were  descendants  from 
the  ancient   people  of  God,   to  whom  a  cove- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  141 

nant  of  rich  promises  was  once  given,  he  be- 
lieved there  would  be  "  a  ground  of  faith  to 
expect  mercy  for  them  "  ;  for,  as  he  says,  "  Je- 
hovah remembereth  and  giveth  being  to  ancient 
promises."  His  heart  would  then  be  greatly 
encouraged  in  his  work.* 

However  we  may  smile  at  the  theory  which 
he  cherished  with  so  much  zeal,  or  at  the  argu- 
ments by  which  he  sought  to  support  it,  we 
must  respect  the  motive,  which  gave  this  bias 
to  his  speculations.  If  his  desire  to  impart 
the  blessings  of  divine  truth  to  the  Indians  had 
been  less  fervent,  he  would  have  cared  less  to 
prove,  that  they  came  from  the  ancient  stock  of 
Israel. 

Mr.  Eliot  felt,  and  expressed  in  his  corres- 
pondence, a  warm  sympathy  with  those  who 
were  placed  amidst  the  strong  conflicts,  by 
which  the  mother  country  was  rent  asunder. 
His  wishes  and  prayers  were  all  in  favor  of  the 
dominant  party  ;  but  whether  the  execution  of 
the  King  was  regarded  by  him  with  approba- 
tion, we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining. 

From  the  contemplation  of  political  convul- 
sions, however,  his  heart  was  still  returning  to 
his  own  good  work  at  home,  and  rested  there. 
He  was  delighted  to  receive  any  sympathy  on 

*  Further  Discovery  of  the  Present  State  of  the  Indians, 
&c,  pp.  14,  24. 


142  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

this  subject.  He  blessed  God  when  he  heard, 
that  the  celebrated  John  Owen  expressed  a 
great  interest  in  his  labors.  The  favorable 
notice,  which  the  conversion  of  the  Indians  had 
gained  in  Parliament,  together  with  his  politi- 
cal prepossessions,  induced  him  to  speak  of 
that  assembly  in  terms  of  indiscriminate  praise, 
which  may  be  thought  at  the  present  day  to 
need  some  qualification. 

He  renewed  at  this  time  the  mention  of 
schools  to  be  provided  for  the  natives.  No 
man  believed  more  devoutly  in  the  necessity  of 
dependence  on  the  divine  blessing ;  but  he  no 
less  firmly  believed,  that,  if  the  work  of  im- 
provement was  to  be  permanent,  the  founda- 
tion must  be  laid  in  the  education  of  the  young. 
He  insisted,  therefore,  that  there  must  be  an 
annual  appropriation  for  the  support  of  school- 
masters and  schoolmistresses.  He  proposed 
to  carry  the  business  of  education  still  further; 
for  he  had  found  some  of  the  Indian  youth  so 
docile,  and  of  such  prompt  and  quick  parts, 
that  he  wished  to  have  them,  as  he  expressed 
it,  "  wholly  sequestered  to  learning."  By  this 
he  meant,  that  they  should  be  sent  to  college, 
and  devote  their  lives  to  study  and  teaching. 
Ten  pounds  per  annum,  he  thought,  would  be 
sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  a  single  youth 
in  this  way.  At  a  later  period,  we  shall  see, 
unsuccessful  attempts  were  made  to  carry  this 


JOHN     ELIOT.  143 

plan  in  some  degree  into  effect.  Eliot  like- 
wise urged  the  importance  of  translating  the 
Bible  and  other  books  for  the  natives.  He  in- 
sisted, that,  if  money  could  be  procured,  there 
was  no  purpose  to  which  it  might  be  so  use- 
fully devoted  as  to  this.  These  were  the  lead- 
ing objects,  to  which  he  earnestly  called  the 
attention  of  his  friends  in  England. 

Winslow  and  Mr.  Herbert  Pelham,  who  was 
likewise  in  England  at  that  time,  had  taken 
occasion  in  their  letters  to  express  their  affec- 
tionate greetings  to  the  "  praying  Indians." 
Eliot,  touched  with  this  kind  remembrance  of 
his  converts,  soon  found  opportunity  to  make 
use  of  it,  as  an  illustration  in  the  course  of  his 
instructions.  Some  Christian  Indians  from 
Martha's  Vineyard  had  visited  those,  to  whom 
our  evangelist  ministered  in  Massachusetts. 
Among  them  was  one,  whose  assistance  May- 
hew  had  found  very  serviceable  in  learning 
their  language.  Eliot's  Indians  had  much  con- 
versation with  their  visiters,  and,  finding  a  per- 
fect sympathy  on  religious  subjects,  they  gave 
the  strangers  a  hearty  welcome. 

This  circumstance  occasioned  a  question, 
which  to  a  man  like  their  teacher  must  have 
had  an  affecting  interest.  "How  is  it,"  said 
they,  "  that,  when  an  Indian  whom  we  never 
saw  before,  comes  among  us,  and  we  find  that 
he  prays  to  God,  we  love  him  exceedingly;  but 


144  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

when  our  own  brother,  dwelling  at  a  distance, 
visits  us,  if  he  does  not  pray  to  God,  though 
we  love  him,  yet  it  is  not  with  such  a  love  as 
we  have  for  the  other  man  %  "  The  sentiment 
of  religious  sympathy  must  have  been  strong, 
that  gave  rise  to  such  a  question  in  the  minds 
of  men  scarcely  in  any  considerable  degree  re- 
claimed from  savage  life. 

Mr.  Eliot  first  inquired,  whether  they  really 
found  this  feeling  in  their  hearts.  They  replied 
that  they  did,  and  had  often  wondered  at  it. 
Encouraged  by  this  answer,  their  teacher  fur- 
ther asked  them,  what  they  supposed  could  be 
the  reason,  that  good  people  in  England,  at 
the  distance  of  three  thousand  miles,  who 
never  saw  them,  should  love  them  as  soon  as 
they  heard  of  their  praying  to  God,  and  send 
them  tokens  of  their  affectionate  regard.  He 
then  mentioned  the  kind  message  sent  by  Mr. 
Winslow  and  Mr.  Pelham.  He  reminded  them 
of  the  good  things  already  bestowed  by  their 
friends  in  England,  and  assured  them  that  they 
would  receive  more,  for  that  means  would  soon 
be  sent  to  assist  them  in  building  a  town. 

The  Indians  acknowledged,  that  they  could 
not  account  for  this  benevolent  interest.  Mr. 
Eliot,  having  thus  prepared  their  minds,  pro- 
ceeded to  explain  to  them  the  nature  of  that 
unity  of  spirit  by  which  those  who  love  reli- 
gion are  attached  to  each  other,  and  doubtless 


JOHN     ELIOT.  145 

left  on  their  hearts  a  far  more  salutary  and  en- 
during impression,  than  could  have  been  con- 
veyed by  any  attempt  to  open  the  depths  of 
doctrinal  mysteries. 

Our  apostle  was  troubled  to  hear,  that  some, 
who  had  gone  from  America,  had  reported  un- 
favorably in  England  concerning  his  work 
among  the  natives.  He  requested  Mr.  Winslow 
to  inquire  of  such,  whether  they  had  ever  taken 
the  pains  to  go  three  or  four  miles  to  some  of 
the  Indian  meetings,  that  they  might  judge  for 
themselves  from  personal  observation.  If  they 
had  not,  he  protested  against  their  testimony. 
If  they  had  done  so,  and  were  acquainted  with 
the  Indians,  he  begged  to  know  specifically 
what  their  objections  were. 

As  to  the  general,  sweeping  charge,  that  all 
the  Indians  were  bad  and  reckless,  because 
those  were  so  wrho  were  found  loitering  around 
the  English  settlements,  watching  for  an  op- 
portunity to  steal  or  to  do  mischief,  he  would 
have  such  as  talked  in  this  way  consider  how 
it  would  fare  with  the  English,  if  the  character 
of  all  should  be  judged  and  condemned  by  that 
of  the  worst  among  them.  He  asked  only  for 
fair  dealing.  While  he  was  far  enough  from 
making  any  extravagant  claims  for  his  Indians, 
he  would  not  have  them  traduced  by  the 
thoughtless  or  the  malignant,  without  inter- 
posing an  honest  vindication. 

vol.  v.  10  O 


146  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

While  Eliot  was  thus  actively  engaged  in 
labors,  which  took  and  kept  him  much  from 
home,  he  was  not  unmindful  of  his  studies. 
His  love  of  books  appears  by  a  request  he 
made  to  Winslow  for  assistance,  to  enable  him 
to  purchase  the  library  of  Mr.  Welde,  his  form- 
er colleaguej  who  had  gone  to  England,  and 
did  not  intend  to  return.  He  was  extremely 
unwilling,  that  these  books  should  be  sent  back 
to  England,  while  they  were  so  much  needed 
in  the  infant  colony,  where  the  means  of  theo- 
logical learning  were  scanty.  The  price  of 
the  library  was  thirty-four  pounds ;  but  he 
would  pay  that  price  only  on  condition  that  all 
the  books  were  included. 

It  seems,  from  his  manner  of  speaking,  that 
he  expected  to  refund  the  money  which  he 
wished  to  have  disbursed  for  him  on  this  occa- 
sion. But  he  soon  after  learned,  that  the  cor- 
poration in  England  were  willing  to  discharge 
the  expense  of  the  purchase,  for  which  he  was 
heartily  grateful.  They  likewise  bought  the 
library  of  Mr.  Jenner,  minister  of  Weymouth, 
for  Harvard  College,  as  appears  from  a  letter 
of  Winslow,  published  by  Hazard.*  Eliot's 
expressions  seem  to  imply,  that  Welde's  books 
were   to   be   presented  to  him ;  but  this  is  not 

#  See  Savage's  note  on  Winthrop,  Vol.  I.  p.  25\.  Mr. 
Eliot  also  mentions  Jenner's  library  in  connexion  with 
Welde's. 


JOHN     ELIOT  147 

positively  said.  He  promised  to  send  to  Eng- 
land a  catalogue  of  each  of  the  libraries,  as 
soon  as  his  engagements  should  allow  him  suf- 
ficient leisure. 

On  one  occasion,  Eliot's  converts  were  some- 
what troubled  by  the  doctrines  of  the  notorious 
Gorton,  whose  conduct  and  creed  caused  so 
much  disturbance  in  the  early  days  of  New 
England.  In  July,  1650,  two  of  the  "  praying 
Indians "  travelled  to  Providence  and  War- 
wick, and  spent  the  Sabbath  among  Gorton's 
followers,  with  whom  they  had  much  confer- 
ence about  religion.  They  returned  with  per- 
plexing doubts  on  their  minds.  At  the  next 
lecture,  before  the  assembly  had  fully  come  to- 
gether, one  of  those  Indians  asked  Mr.  Eliot 
this  question  ;  "  How  happens  it,  that  the  Eng- 
lish, among  whom  I  have  lately  been,  though 
they  have  the  same  Bible  as  we  have,  yet  speak 
different  things  ?  "  He  then  said,  that  he  and 
his  brother  had  visited  Providence  and  War- 
wick, and  though  they  did  not  understand  the 
public  exercises,  yet  they  learned  from  conver- 
sation, that  there  was  much  difference  between 
the  opinions  of  the  people  there  and  those  of 
their  own  teacher. 

Mr.  Eliot  requested  him  to  state  the  particu- 
lars. He  accordingly  enumerated  the  points, 
about  which  their  faith  had  been  disturbed. 
"  First,"   said  he,   "  you  teach  us    there    is    a 


148  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

heaven  and  a  hell ;  but  according  to  Gorton's 
people,  it  is  not  so  ;  for  they  say  the  only 
heaven  is  in  the  hearts  of  the  good,  and  the 
only  hell  in  the  hearts  of  the  wicked."  "  Well," 
said  the  preacher,  "  how  did  you  answer  that  ?  " 
"  I  told  them,"  rejoined  the  Indian,  "  that  I 
did  not  believe  their  doctrine,  because  heaven 
is  a  place  where  good  men  go  after  death,  and 
hell  is  a  place  where  the  wicked  go  when  they 
die."     Mr.  Eliot  was  pleased  with  the  reply. 

Many  reflecting  Christians  at  the  present 
day  would  find  little  or  nothing  objectionable 
in  the  doctrine  of  Gorton's  followers  on  this 
subject.  But  probably  the  conceptions,  which 
the  Indians  had  naturally  formed,  were  better 
suited  to  the  rude  state  of  their  minds,  than 
more  refined  views.  A  place,  with  outward 
material  accompaniments  for  happiness  or  mis- 
ery, is  a  more  definite  and  imposing  object  to 
the  imagination,  than  a  state  of  the  heart;  be- 
cause it  admits  those  gorgeous  descriptions 
and  that  glowing  imagery,  which  have  all  the 
stirring  effect  of  the  most  striking  objects  of 
sense. 

The  Indian  then  proceeded  to  mention  other 
particulars,  in  which  some  of  Gorton's  peculiai 
opinions  against  infant  baptism,  and  against 
the  utility  or  propriety  of  the  office  of  minis 
ters  and  magistrates,  were  developed.  On  each 
of  these   topics   Eliot  inquired,  how  they  had 


JOHN     ELIOT.  149 

met  and  answered  the  doctrines  of  these  men. 
He  found  that  in  every  instance,  they  had,  as 
he  believed,  replied  wisely  and  soundly.  Gor- 
ton's people  said,  besides,  something  about  the 
Parliament  of  England,  which  the  Indian  re- 
porter did  not  understand. 

It  is  observable,  that  during  this  conversa- 
tion Mr.  Eliot  himself  made  no  remarks  on  the 
errors  of  Gorton.  He  merely  proposed  que- 
ries, to  ascertain  how  the  minds  of  his  Indian 
disciples  were  affected  by  these  views,  and 
how  their  own  unassisted  thoughts  could  dis- 
pose of  them.  Full  of  joy  at  finding  these 
untutored  men,  whose  faith  had  been  thus  ex- 
posed to  a  perilous  encounter,  so  discreet  and 
firm  in  the  right  way,  he  offered  solemn  thanks, 
in  the  prayer  at  the  opening  of  the  ensuing 
service,  that  God  had  given  them  such  ability 
to  discern  between  right  and  wrong,  and  so 
stout  hearts  to  stand  for  the  truth  against 
error.  He  regarded  this  trial  as  an  evidence 
of  the  success,  which  the  blessing  of  God  had 
bestowed  on  his  teaching.* 

It  should  here  be  mentioned,  that  in  the  re- 
monstrance against  "  The  Petition  and  Declar- 
ation of  Samuel  Gorton,"  which  was  intrusted 
to  Winslow  when  he  wTent  to  England,  and  ad- 
dressed to  the  Earl  of  Warwick  and  the  other 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Plantations,  it  was 

*  Eliot's  Letter  in  Further  Discovery,  £fc,  pp.  33-35. 

02 


150  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

maintained,  that  the  good  work  of  christianiz 
ing  and  civilizing  the  Indians,  which  had  been 
so  happily  begun  by  Mr.  Eliot,  would  be  dashed, 
if  Gorton  should  be  countenanced  and  upheld 
in  his  proceedings.*  There  was  so  much 
heated  excitement  against  this  man,  that  it  is 
difficult  to  judge  whether  the  accusation  was 
well  founded. 

The  project  of  establishing  a  town  for  the 
"  praying  Indians  "  was  one  of  growing  inter- 
est and  importance.  The  natives  themselves 
entered  heartily  into  the  plan,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1650  importuned  their  teacher  to  permit 
them  to  begin  the  enterprise.  But  at  that  time 
he  advised  them  to  delay  the  business  a  little, 
as  he  was  waiting  for  tools  and  other  helps 
from  England,  by  means  of  which  he  hoped  to 
prosecute  the  work  in  the  summer. 

Meanwhile  several  ships  arrived  without 
bringing  the  expected  supply.  This  failure 
made  Mr.  Eliot  sad.  His  heart  smote  him  for 
depending  so  much  on  human  means,  and  for 
repressing  the  zeal  of  the  Indians,  by  holding 
out  a  hope  which  was  not  fulfilled.  The  piety 
of  his  day  regarded  every  disappointment  as  a 
rebuke  from  God.  He  thought  himself  now 
called  to  learn  the  lesson  of  putting  more 
trust   in   the  Lord,  and  less  in  man.     So  seri- 

*  Savage's  Winthrop,  Vol.  II.  p.  297. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  151 

ously  did  he  construe  this  temporary  delay  of 
the  expected  assistance,  that  he  consulted  with 
the  elders  and  some  of  the  members  of  his 
church,  as  to  the  light  in  which  it  was  to  be 
viewed.  He  also  sought  the  advice  of  sever- 
al elders  at  the  Boston  lecture. 

Mr.  Cotton  declared,  "  My  heart  saith,  Go  on, 
and  look  to  the  Lord  only  for  help."  Eliot's 
church,  upon  his  recommendation,  observed  a 
day  of  fasting  and  prayer  for  this  and  for 
other  causes,  and  engaged  to  afford  as  much 
aid  as  their  ability  would  permit.  At  that  very 
time,  before  they  had  retired  from  the  place  of 
meeting,  they  had  notice  of  the  arrival  of  a 
ship  from  England,  by  which  encouraging  let- 
ters and  promises  of  aid  were  received  from 
private  friends.  This  mercy  cheered  the  spir- 
its of  Mr.  Eliot;  and  it  was  so  ordered,  he 
observes,  that  he  "  should  receive  it  as  a  fruit 
of  prayer." 

While  his  conduct  on  this  occasion  may  be 
thought  to  exhibit  the  hasty  despondency,  into 
which  a  temporary  check  upon  a  favorite  plan 
sometimes  betrays  the  feelings  even  of  a  good 
man,  and  we  wonder  that  he  should  so  sud- 
denly construe  his  disappointment  into  a  re- 
proof from  heaven,  and  his  relief  into  a  special 
answer  to  prayer ;  we  may  also  observe  here 
that  habit  of  reliance  on  God,  which  is  so  often 
the    stimulating    principle    of    energetic    and 


152  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

persevering  action  in  a  good  cause.  Man  is 
never  so  strong  as  when,  in  the  consciousness 
of  utter  dependence,  he  leans  on  the  wisdom 
and  goodness  of  Him  whose  arm  sustains  the 
universe. 

Meanwhile  our  evangelist  continued  with 
unwearied  zeal  to  preach,  and  to  instruct  by- 
question  and  answer,  at  the  several  stations 
where  he  was  accustomed  to  collect  the  In- 
dians. It  was  not  to  be  expected,  that  he 
could  proceed  without  opposition  from  the  na- 
tives. No  missionary  ever  went  to  unenlight- 
ened men  in  a  better  spirit  of  love  and  wisdom 
than  Mr.  Eliot.  But  all  his  prudence,  all  his 
affectionate  address,  could  not  silence  or  obvi- 
ate the  irritated  feelings  of  many,  who  were 
unable  to  appreciate  the  kindness  which  aimed 
only  to  do  them  good.  The  selfish  passions, 
too,  were  naturally  stirred  into  resistance. 
Mr.  Eliot  accordingly,  while  cheered  with  some 
encouraging  evidences  of  success,  found  him- 
self called  to  meet  and  subdue  the  obstacles 
thrown  in  his  way  by  the  action  of  fierce  and 
resentful  feelings. 

The  opposition  at  first  arose  chiefly  from  the 
powaws.  These  men,  though  occasionally 
treated  with  indignity  by  their  people,  pos- 
sessed that  power,  the  stronger  for  being  mys- 
terious, which  a  supposed  connexion  with  the 
invisible  world  always  confers. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  153 

The  savage,  if  inaccessible  in  other  ways,  is 
for  the  most  part  easily  held  captive  by  his  su- 
perstitious fears.  The  howling  and  dances, 
the  charms  and  incantations  of  the  powaws, 
overawed  men,  whom  no  physical  force  could 
intimidate,  and  from  whom  no  physical  pain 
could  extort  a  groan.  It  was  believed,  that 
they  could  kill  or  cure  the  diseased,  and  that 
they  had  communications  from  the  world  of 
spirits,  enabling  them  to  bewitch  their  enemies, 
or  put  them  to  death.  Their  influence  operated 
so  deeply  on  the  minds  of  the  Indians,  that 
even  the  Christian  converts  stood  in  awe  of 
them,  and  found  it  almost  impossible  to  shake 
off  their  dread  of  the  supernatural  endow- 
ments, with  which  they  were  supposed  to  be 
invested.  Such  an  influence  as  this,  so  flatter- 
ing to  the  natural  love  of  power  in  the  human 
breast,  we  may  readily  believe  would  not  be 
resigned  without  a  struggle. 

One  of  the  first  objects  wTith  Mr.  Eliot  was 
to  induce  the  Indians  to  abandon  their  powTaws, 
and  thus  to  liberate  them  from  that  debasing 
thraldom  in  which  they  had  been  held.  When 
these  men  saw  a  new  religion  introduced  among 
their  people,  which  threatened  to  withdraw 
from  their  hands  those  over  whom  they  had 
exercised  such  power,  they  met  the  innovation 
with  determined  resistance.  They  brought  all 
the   agency  of  old   fears  to  bear  on  every   one, 


154  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

who  showed  a  disposition  to  escape ;  and  it 
required  no  common  courage  to  set  their 
threats  at  defiance.  Many  of  the  apostle's 
disciples  were  exceedingly  troubled  in  this 
way.  He  "  observed  a  striking  difference  in 
their  countenances,  when  the  powaws  were 
present  and  when  they  were  out  of  the  way."  * 
For  some  time  the  principal  opposition  to 
Eliot's  labors  came  from  these  men.  But,  in  a 
letter  to  Winslow  in  1650,  he  observes,  that 
the  sachems  also  had  generally  become  formid- 
able enemies,  and  omitted  no  effort  or  device  to 
prevent  their  people  from  "  praying  to  God," 
for  this  was  the  general  phrase  by  which  they 
designated  the  new  religion.  Their  opposition 
sprung  from  one  of  the  strongest  feelings  in 
the  heart  of  man,  whether  savage  or  civilized. 
The  effect  of  Mr.  Eliot's  success  was  to  eman- 
cipate their  people  in  some  degree  from  the 
grasp  of  their  despotic  tyranny.  They  held 
their  subjects  in  absolute  servitude.  Both 
property  and  persons  were  at  their  command; 
and  the  language  of  the  sachem  was,  "  All  is 
mine."  What  they  wanted,  they  would  demand 
with  violent  clamors,  or  seize  without  hesita- 
tion. The  consequence  was,  that  their  people 
either  timidly  surrendered  all  that  they  had,  or 
concerted   some   plot    to   murder  their  oppres- 

*  Neal's  History  of  New  England,  Vol.  I.  p.  253. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  155 

sors.  On  one  side  was  lawless  tyranny ;  on 
the  other,  unconditional  submission  or  reckless 
outrage.  The  Indian  subjects,  knowing  that 
whatever  they  might  acquire  was  at  the  mercy 
of  the  sachems,  felt  no  desire  to  gain  any  thing 
more  than  a  bare  sufficiency  for  present  sub- 
sistence. 

Wherever  Christianity  was  introduced  among 
them,  it  had  a  tendency  to  abolish,  or  greatly 
mitigate,  this  state  of  servitude  and  oppres- 
sion. The  people  learned  in  some  rude  degree 
to  understand  their  rights.  They  were  willing 
to  pay  the  tribute  as  before;  but  they  insisted 
that  it  should  be  regulated  by  acknowledged 
and  reasonable  measures. 

When  the  sachem  attempted  to  overawe  them 
by  rage  and  violence,  they  had  the  courage  to 
admonish  him  for  his  sin,  instead  of  pacifying 
him  by  submission.  They  let  him  know,  that 
their  possessions  were  not  to  be  extorted  from 
them  in  that  way,  and,  reminding  him  that  they 
had  learned  industry  from  the  divine  command, 
they  even  ventured  to  enjoin  on  him  the  same 
duty.  Neither  in  the  splendid  palace,  nor  in 
the  cabins  of  the  forest,  is  man  willing  to  re- 
sign arbitrary  power,  so  long  as  he  can  hold  it. 
The  sachems  could  not  look  with  complacency 
or  indifference  on  the  inroads  of  a  religion, 
the  effect  of  which  was  to  bring  their  authority 


156  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

within  some  just  limits  and  under  some  rea- 
sonable principles. 

Mr.  Eliot  tells  us,  that  he  had  requested  the 
Commissioners  for  the  United  Colonies  to  de- 
vise a  general  mode  for  the  instruction  of  all 
the  Indians,  and  that  in  his  prayers  he  was  ac- 
customed to  offer  petitions  for  some  of  the 
tribes  by  name,  such  as  the  Mohegans  and  the 
Narragansets.  This,  being  made  known  among 
them,  occasioned  much  excitement.  Uncas, 
sachem  of  the  Mohegans,  went  to  Hartford, 
when  the  Court  of  Commissioners  was  in  ses- 
sion there,  and  expressed  to  them  the  appre- 
hensions this  report  had  raised  in  his  mind, 
and  his  extreme  dislike  towards  the  introduc- 
tion of  Christianity  among  his  people.* 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  "praying 
Indians  "  naturally  became  objects  of  aversion 
and  persecution.  The  sachems  banished  them 
from  their  communities,  and  even  in  some  in- 
stances, it  is  said,  put  them  to  death.  Had 
not  their  fear  of  the  English  held  them  consid- 
erably in  check,  the  converts  would  probably 
in  general  have  fared  much  worse  at  their 
hands  than  they  did. 

Mr.  Eliot  was  often  in  great  personal  dan- 
ger. His  life  would  frequently  have  been  in 
peril  among  them,  had   they   not    dreaded  the 

*  Eliot's  letter  in  Further  Discovery,  ^-c,  p.  38,  &c. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  ] 57 

retaliation  of  their  English  neighbors,  who  were 
too  strong  to  permit  outrage  with  impunity. 
They  would  sometimes  drive  him  out  with  vio- 
lent and  menacing  language,  and  would  tell 
him,  that,  if  he  came  again,  it  should  be  at  his 
peril. 

He  had  too  much  of  the  spirit  of  a  martyr 
to  be  intimidated  by  these  threats.  "  I  am  en- 
gaged," he  said  to  them,  "  in  the  work  of  God, 
and  God  is  with  me.  I  fear  not  all  the  sa- 
chems in  the  country.  I  shall  go  on  in  my 
work,  and  do  you  touch  me  if  you  dare."  The 
same  man,  whose  heart  was  full  of  love,  and 
who  with  the  most  winning  gentleness  would 
interest  himself  in  the  wants  of  the  little  child- 
ren of  the  wigwam,  could,  when  the  occasion 
called  for  unyielding  intrepidity,  face  without 
dismay  the  savage  chiefs,  and  answer  their 
angry  violence  with  a  firmness,  before  which 
the  stoutest  of  them  quailed. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  Eliot  makes  no 
severe  comment  on  this  sharp  opposition.  He 
lamented  it  chiefly  because  he  feared  it  might 
deter  many  of  the  Indians  from  venturing  to 
adopt  the  religion  of  Christ.  He  regarded  it 
with  compassion,  as  the  natural  conduct  of 
men,  who  could  not  understand,  that  he  was 
bringing  them  a  blessing,  instead  of  inflicting 
an  injury. 

He  had,  moreover,  the  piety  and  the  wisdom 

P 


158  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

to  believe,  that  good  would  spring  out  of  this 
warm  opposition.  The  searching  and  sifting 
trial,  through  which  the  Indians  passed  in  be- 
coming Christians,  would  be  at  once  an  evi- 
dence and  an  exercise  of  their  fidelity.  The 
chaff  would  be  winnowed  out,  and  only  the 
good  grain  brought  in.  The  insincere,  the 
loose,  the  careless,  who  from  various  base  or 
unworthy  motives  might  have  called  themselves 
"  praying  Indians,"  could  they  have  done  it 
with  safety  or  advantage,  would  be  effectually 
kept  away  from  a  profession,  which  they  could 
adopt  only  at  the  risk  of  persecution.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  strong  confidence  might  be  placed 
in  those,  who  had  firmness  and  faith  enough  to 
brave  the  displeasure  of  sachems  and  powaws, 
and  give  themselves  up  to  the  new  religion  in 
defiance  of  the  perils  by  which  they  were  sur- 
rounded. The  impulse,  that  inspired  such 
courage,  could  be  no  light  or  hypocritical  one. 
There  would  be  a  well-founded  hope,  that  the 
true  light  had  dawned  on  their  minds,  that  the 
principle  of  inward  life  had  been  touched  by 
divine  truth. 

It  was  wise  in  Mr.  Eliot  thus  to  derive  en- 
couragement even  from  strenuous  opposition; 
though,  in  expecting  so  much  good  from  this 
source,  he  did  not,  perhaps,  make  sufficient  al- 
lowance for  the  difference  between  savage  and 
refined  man,  as  to  the   influence   of  such  mo- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  159 

tives.  It  should,  however,  be  observed,  that 
his  confidence  even  in  those,  who  came  into 
Christianity  through  so  many  obstacles,  was 
not  hastily  bestowed.  He  cautiously  waited 
for  the  testimony  of  a  competent  time.  If  upon 
experience  they  were  found  to  improve  in  the 
knowledge  and  love  of  religion,  in  proportion 
as  they  understood  it,  and  to  submit  to  its 
restraints,  and  practise  its  duties,  "what,"  he 
modestly  and  feelingly  asked,  "  should  hinder 
charity  from  hoping,  that  there  is  grace  in  their 
hearts,  a  spark  kindled  by  the  word  and  spirit 
of  God,  that  shall  never  be  quenched  1 " 


160  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER   X. 

The  Settlement  at  Natick.  —  Labors  of  the  In- 
dians at  that  Place.  —  Form  of  Polity  devised 
for  them  by  Eliot.  —  Their  Civil  Covenant.  — 
Visit  of  Governor  Endicot  and  Mr.  Wilson  to 
Natick,  and  their  Account.  —  Eliot's  Endeavors 
to  form  Indian  Preachers.  —  Further  Particu- 
lars of  Natick. 

The  time  had  come  when  Mr.  Eliot's  long- 
cherished  desire  for  the  establishment  of  a 
town  of  "  praying  Indians  "  was  to  be  grati- 
fied. It  would  seem,  that  the  settlement  at 
Nonantum  would  naturally  have  been  selected 
for  that  purpose.  But  there  were  reasons  why 
the  leader  of  the  enterprise  preferred  to  seek 
another  place  for  the  community  he  had  in  view. 

It  was  his  opinion,  that  the  town  ought  to  be 
"  somewhat  remote  from  the  English."  Diffi- 
culties had  already  been  found  to  arise  from 
the  vicinity  of  Nonantum  to  the  English  set- 
tlers ;  and  Eliot  was  persuaded,  that,  for  sev- 
eral reasons,  it  would  be  expedient  for  the 
natives  to  have  a  more  insulated  situation, 
where  there  would  be  less  danger  of  collision. 
Besides,  Nonantum  did  not  afford  room  enough 
for  his    purpose.     He  wTanted   a    tract  of  land, 


JOHN     ELIOT.  161 

where  the  Indians  could  be  gathered  into  a 
large  society,  furnished  with  instruction  of  va- 
rious kinds,  a  form  of  government,  and  encour- 
agements to  industry  in  agriculture  and  the 
trades,  in  fishing,  dressing  flax,  and  planting 
orchards.*  He  wished  to  make  the  experiment 
under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  be- 
cause he  intended  to  found  such  a  town  as 
might  be  an  example  for  imitation  in  future  at- 
tempts of  the  same  kind,  a  model  for  all  the 
subsequent  communities  of  Christian  Indians, 
that  might  be  collected. 

His  own  solicitude  was  increased  by  finding 
a  strong  disposition  on  the  part  of  his  converts 
to  cooperate  in  the  plan.  They  often  ex- 
pressed a  warm  desire  to  be  gathered  into  a 
church,  to  enjoy  the  administration  of  the  ordi- 
nances, and  to  have  regular  services  of  public 
worship  on  the  Sabbath  ;  in  short,  to  be  united 
under  such  ecclesiastical  forms  as  they  saw 
among  their  English  friends.  Their  faithful 
teacher  told  them,  that  in  their  present  irregu- 
lar, unfixed  mode  of  life,  they  could  not  profit- 
ably or  decently  maintain  among  themselves 
these  religious  institutions  ;  that  they  must  first 
be  established  in  civil  order,  and  in  the  forms 
of  an  industrious  community,  and  then  they 
would  be  prepared   to  have   a   church   and   its 

*  Eliot's  letter  to  Winslow  in  The  Glorious  Progres&e 
of  the  Gospel,  4'c,  p.  8. 

VOL.   V.  11  P  2 


162  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

ordinances.  This  admonition  quickened  their 
desire  for  the  proposed  settlement ;  and  some 
of  their  aged  men  exclaimed,  "  0  that  God 
would  let  us  live  to  see  that  day  ! " 

At  length,  in  1651,  the  "praying  Indians" 
came  together,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
town  on  the  banks  of  Charles  River,  about 
eighteen  miles  in  a  southwestern  direction  from 
Boston.  They  named  it  Natick,  which  signi- 
fies a  place  of  hills;  and  thither  the  Nonantum 
Indians  removed.  Some  delay  and  disappoint- 
ment had  occurred  before  this  selection  was 
effected.  Mr.  Eliot  regretted  the  delay,  be- 
cause he  feared  it  might  discourage  his  disci- 
ples and  embolden  their  adversaries.  But  he 
deemed  it  imprudent  to  begin,  until  he  had 
heard  from  the  friends  of  the  enterprise  in  the 
mother  country.  He  therefore  continued  to 
labor  patiently  and  faithfully,  as  he  had  done, 
waiting  for  the  time  when  Providence  should 
grant  the  accomplishment  of  his  wishes. 

In  the  mean  time  he  used  all  diligence  to 
select  the  best  situation.  For  this  purpose  he 
made  several  visits  and  surveys.  At  last  he 
believed  himself  to  be  guided  to  the  choice  of 
the  spot  in  answer  to  his  prayers.  However 
he  might  mistake,  as  was  the  propensity  of  his 
times,  by  a  too  confident  estimate  of  the  special 
interposition  of  Providence,  still  this  circum- 
stance should  be  mentioned  as  an  evidence  of 


JOHN     ELIOT.  163 

the  devout  habit  of  his  mind.  In  a  letter  writ- 
ten in  October,  1650,  he  speaks  of  having  rode, 
probably  early  in  the  spring,  to  what  he  calls 
"  a  place  of  some  hopeful  expectation  "  ;  but 
he  found  it  unsuitable  for  his  purpose.  He 
stopped  on  his  way,  retired  behind  a  rock,  and 
there  prayed  for  divine  direction.  While  he 
was  travelling  in  the  woods,  his  Christian 
friends  at  home  were  also  asking  in  prayer  the 
blessing  and  guidance  of  God  for  him.  His 
company,  in  consequence  of  the  sickness  of  one 
of  their  number,  were  obliged  to  hasten  their 
return.  But  on  their  way  home,  some  of  the 
Indians  who  were  with  them  mentioned  a  situ- 
ation, in  the  description  of  which  he  was  so 
much  interested,  that,  taking  them  for  guides, 
he  visited  some  parts  of  it.  Upon  a  more  careful 
survey,  he  determined  to  choose  this  spot  for 
the  settlement,  being  the  same  that  was  after- 
wards called  Natick.  Hence  he  remarked,  that 
"  the  place  was  of  God's  providing,  as  a  fruit 
of  prayer." 

The  settlement  was  to  occupy  both  sides  of 
Charles  River.  Though  the  stream  was  so 
shallow  in  the  summer,  that  the  Indians  could 
generally  wade  through  it  with  ease,  yet,  as  the 
water  was  deep  in  the  spring  and  at  other 
times,  it  became  necessary  to  throw  a  bridge 
over  it.  Mr.  Eliot  persuaded  them  to  under- 
take this  work.     They  built  a  foot-bridge  over 


164  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

the  river,  eighty  feet  long  and  nine  feet  high 
in  the  middle.  Doubtless  it  was  a  sufficiently 
rude  structure ;  but  it  answered  their  purpose, 
and,  what  was  quite  as  important,  it  gave  them 
the  stimulating  excitement  of  that  satisfaction, 
which  man  enjoys,  in  seeing  the  successful  re- 
sult of  his  labor  in  a  new  form. 

When  they  had  finished  it,  Eliot  called  them 
together,  offered  thanks  to  God,  and  gave  them 
instruction  from  a  portion  of  Scripture.  He 
then  praised  them  for  their  ready  and  cheerful 
industry.  He  added,  that,  as  they  had  worked 
hard  in  the  water,  if  any  desired  wages,  he 
would  pay  them;  but,  as  the  bridge  was  wholly 
for  their  own  use,  if  they  would  consider  it  as 
a  labor  of  love,  he  should  be  glad,  and  would 
remember  it  at  a  future  time.  They  at  once 
replied,  that  they  should  accept  no  wages,  and 
thanked  him  for  his  kind  assistance  in  an  un- 
dertaking so  useful  to  themselves.*  There 
was  in  the  transaction  much  of  the  character- 
istic spirit  of  this  earnest,  artless,  benevolent 
man. 

This  took  place  in  the  autumn  of  1650.  The 
next  spring  the  Indians  went  to  their  work 
with  spirit  and  interest.  Their  town  was  laid 
out  in  three  streets,  two  on  one  side  and  one 
on  the  other   side  of  the   river.     Lots  of  land 

*  Further  Discovery,  &c,  p.  37. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  165 

were  measured  and  divided,  apple-trees  were 
planted,  and  the  business  of  the  sowing  season 
was  begun.  A  house-lot  was  assigned  to  each 
family  ;  and  it  is  said,  that  some  of  the  cellars 
of  these  dwellings  may  be  seen  at  the  present 
day.  They  built  a  circular  fort,  palisaded  with 
trees,  and  a  large  house  in  the  English  style, 
the  lower  part  of  which  was  to  be  used  for 
public  worship  on  the  Sabbath,  and  for  a  school- 
room on  other  days,  while  the  upper  apartment 
was  appropriated  as  a  wardrobe  and  as  a  de- 
pository for  valuable  commodities.  A  part  of 
this  room  was  divided  from  the  rest  by  a  par- 
tition for  Mr.  Eliot's  peculiar  use,  —  "the 
prophet's  chamber,"  in  which  he  had  a  bed. 
This  house,  fifty  feet  long,  twenty-five  feet 
wide,  and  twelve  feet  high  between  the  joists, 
was  built  entirely  by  the  Indians,  excepting  the 
assistance  they  had  from  an  English  carpenter 
for  a  day  or  two,  who  gave  them  directions 
about  raising  the  frame  and  some  other  par- 
ticulars. 

Canopies  were  constructed  of  mats  upon 
poles,  one  for  Eliot  and  his  attendants,  and 
others  for  the  natives,  the  men  and  women  hav- 
ing separate  canopies.  These  are  said  to  have 
been  for  "  the  hearers,"  I  suppose  on  occasion 
of  the  common  discourses  in  pleasant  weather, 
or  on  other  days  than  the  Sabbath.  Several 
small   houses    after    the    English    mode    were 


166  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

erected  ;  but  Gookin  says,  the  Indians  found 
these  too  expensive,  and,  for  that  reason  as 
well  as  others,  they  generally  preferred  to 
build  wigwams  in  their  old  fashion.* 

Some  mode  of  government  was  now  to  be 
provided  for  the  new  community,  which  Eliot 
had  collected.  On  this  subject  his  principles, 
however  strange  the  form  in  which  they  are 
stated  may  seem  at  the  present  day,  wTere  such 
as  the  religious  character  of  the  Puritan  strug- 
gle had  made  acceptable  to  many  pious  men  at 
that  time.  He  thought,  that  all  civil  govern- 
ment and  all  laws  should  be  derived  from  the 
Scriptures  alone.  A  form  of  polity,  which 
did  not  take  its  model  and  authority  from  the 
word  of  God,  wras  false  and  bad.  This  point 
Mr.  Eliot  loved  to  argue  and  enforce.  We 
find  it  frequently  recurring  in  his  correspon- 
dence with  his  friends  in  England,  when  he 
touched  upon  the  mode  of  government  he 
should  choose  for  his  Indian  converts.  He 
believed  that  the  time  would  come,  when  all 
other  civil  institutions  in  the  world  wTould  be 
compelled  to  yield  to  those  derived  direct- 
ly from  the  Bible.  Of  his  Indians  he  says, 
"  They  shall  be  wholly  governed  by  the  Scrip- 
tures in  all  things,  both  in  church  and  state; 
the  Lord  shall  be  their  lawgiver,  the  Lord 
shall  be  their  judge,   the   Lord    shall   be   their 

*  1  M.  H.  Coll.  J.  181. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  167 

king,  and  unto  that  frame  the  Lord  will  bring 
all  the  world  ere  he  hath  done." 

It  was  his  earnest  prayer,  that  the  Puritans 
in  England,  after  the  overthrow  of  the  mon- 
archy, might  be  led  to  reconstruct  their  civil 
state  on  these  principles.  But  his  plan,  he 
supposed,  would  be  more  easily  effected  among 
the  unsophisticated  men  of  the  wilderness, 
than  anywhere  else.  Other  nations,  he  said, 
would  be  loth  "  to  lay  down  the  imperfect  star- 
light of  their  laws  for  the  perfect  sun-light  of 
the  Scriptures  "  ;  but  the  Indians,  being  neither 
blinded  by  preconceived  ideas,  nor  led  astray 
by  false  wisdom,  would  readily  "  yield  to  any 
direction  from  the  Lord,"  with  respect  to  their 
polity,  as  well  as  religion. 

Such  was  Mr.  Eliot's  theory,  which  seems  to 
have  been  quite  vague  and  indefinite,  the  aspi- 
ration of  piety,  rather  than  the  result  of  politi- 
cal philosophy,  but  still  containing  the  germ  of 
a  principle  as  sound  as  it  is  noble.  He  earn- 
estly desired  to  see  his  ideas  on  this  subject 
carried  into  practice  in  the  mother  country. 
"Oh,"  he  exclaimed,  "the  blessed  day  in  Eng- 
land, when  the  word  of  God  shall  be  their 
Magna  Charta  and  chief  law-book,  and  when 
all  lawyers  must  be  divines  to  study  the 
Scriptures."  * 

#  Eliot's  letter  in  A  Farther  Discovery,  fyc,  pp.  23,  28. 


168  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

How  extensive  were  the  views  he  would  have 
derived  from  these  principles,  we  know  not. 
So  far  as  the  occasion  allowed,  he  applied  them 
in  the  government  of  his  new  town.  He  ad- 
vised the  Indians  at  Natick  to  adopt  the  plan, 
which  the  father-in-law  of  Moses  recommended 
for  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness  ;  *  that  is, 
to  divide  their  community  into  hundreds  and 
tithings,  and  to  appoint  rulers  of  hundreds, 
rulers  of  fifties,  and  rulers  of  tens.  Every 
man  was  to  choose  under  which  ruler  of  ten  he 
would  place  himself;  but  this  arrangement 
must  obviously  have  been  regulated  in  some 
such  way  as  to  prevent  more  than  the  due 
number  being  assigned  to  any  one.  The  rulers 
of  ten  Mr.  Eliot  called  tithing-men ;  for  so,  he 
says,  they  were  denominated  in  the  mother 
country,  "  when  England  did  nourish  happily 
under  that  kind  of  government."  He  here  al- 
ludes, I  suppose,  to  the  institutions  established 
by  Alfred,  when  the  invasions  of  the  Danes 
had  thrown  every  thing  into  confusion,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  provide  for  the  administration 
of  justice  by  making  each  division  responsible, 
by  means  of  the  decennary  or  frank-pledge,  for 
the  good  conduct  of  its  members.f 

The  polity,  which  the  Indians   thus  adopted 

*  Exodus  xviii.  21. 

f  Hume's  History  of  England,  Vol.  I.  p.  92,  and  Tur- 
ner's History  of  the  Anglo- Saxons,  Vol.  I.  p.  327. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  169 

by  their  teacher's  advice,  was  only  a  municipal 
government  for  their  own  regulation.  They 
acknowledged  their  subjection  to  the  magis- 
trates of  the  colony,  and  appeals  were  to  be 
made  to  their  authority  in  all  necessary  cases. 
From  Eliot's  statement,  the  courts  provided 
for  the  natives  by  the  Governor  and  magis- 
trates appear  to  have  been  hitherto  of  little 
practical  use,  in  consequence  of  the  difference 
of  language,  the  want  of  good  interpreters, 
and  the  trivial  and  tedious  causes  brought  for 
adjudication ;  so  that,  as  he  says,  they  must 
either  have  had  no  government,  or  one  among 
themselves.  They  had  frequently  referred  their 
disputes  to  his  judgment ;  but  he  found  it  in- 
expedient and  unpleasant  to  act  as  umpire. 
He  was  right  in  wishing  them  to  have  a  gov- 
ernment of  their  own  to  meet  their  wants  and 
to  settle  matters  of  litigation. 

Their  form  of  polity  being  thus  fixed,  a 
meeting  was  held  on  the  6th  of  August,  1651, 
at  which  the  "  praying  Indians  "  from  different 
quarters  were  collected.  Mr.  Eliot  opened  the 
meeting  with  prayer;  he  then  read  and  ex- 
pounded to  them  the  eighteenth  chapter  of 
Exodus,  which  he  had  often  explained  to  them 
before,  as  exhibiting  the  model  of  their  gov- 
ernment. They  next  proceeded  to  their  elec- 
tions, and  chose  a  ruler  of  an  hundred,  two 
rulers  of  f  ftiis,  and  rulers  of  tens,  or  tithing- 

Q 


170  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

men.  Then  each  one  selected  for  himself  the 
tithing-man  to  whom  he  would  belong,  and 
took  his  place  accordingly.  Eliot  says,  it 
seemed  to  him  "  as  if  he  had  seen  scattered 
bones  go  bone  to  bone,  and  so  live  a  civil,  po- 
litical life."  The  sight  was  refreshing  to  his 
spirit.  He  then  proposed  to  bring  them  into  a 
covenant,  by  which  they  should  agree  "  to  be 
the  Lord's  people,  and  to  be  governed  by  the 
word  of  the  Lord  in  all  things."  To  this  pro- 
ceeding he  wished  to  give  a  peculiar  solem- 
nity, by  appropriating  a  day  specially  for  the 
purpose. 

Before  this  time,  the  Indians  had  inquired 
of  their  teacher,  why  they  had  never  been  di- 
rected to  have  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer, 
like  those  observed  by  the  English  churches. 
He  replied,  that  whenever  there  should  be  an 
important  solemnity  on  hand,  such  as  the  work 
of  becoming  the  people  of  the  Lord  by  cove- 
nant, they  would  be  advised  or  required  to  ob- 
serve a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer.  The  occa- 
sion, of  which  he  had  spoken,  had  now  arrived. 

There  was  another  reason  for  this  public  hu- 
miliation before  God.  A  ship,  in  which  the 
Society  in  England  had  sent  large  supplies  for 
the  infant  settlement  of  the  Indians,  was 
wrecked  at  Cohasset  on  the  1st  of  September. 
Most  of  the  goods  were  saved,  but  were  much 
damaged.      At    a  lecture   on   the    10th  of  the 


JOHN     ELIOT.  171 

same  month,  Eliot  informed  the  Indians  of  the 
misfortune,  which  had  befallen  the  assistance 
so  kindly  sent  by  their  friends.  He  instructed 
them  to  regard  this  as  a  peculiar  frown  of 
Providence,  and  as  "  a  fruit  of  sin."  In  con- 
sideration of  these  circumstances,  a  day  wras 
appointed  to  humble  themselves  before  God  by 
fasting  and  prayer,  and  to  enter  into  a  solemn 
covenant. 

Before  the  day  came,  the  conduct  of  Cut- 
shamakin  caused  some  trouble.  Of  this  man 
Mr.  Eliot,  wTho  probably  regarded  him  with 
special  interest,  as  being  the  first  sachem  to 
whom  he  preached,  remarks,  that,  though  con- 
stant in  his  profession,  he  was  "  doubtful  in 
respect  of  the  thoroughness  of  his  heart."  He 
had  been  to  the  Narraganset  country  to  ap- 
pease some  strife  among  his  brother  sachems. 
On  the  journey  he  and  his  companions  had  pur- 
chased "  much  strong  water  "  at  Gorton's  set- 
tlement, the  consequences  of  which  were  rev- 
elry and  intoxication.  Though  Cutshamakin 
himself  was  not  known  to  have  been  actually 
drunk,  yet  his  conduct  was  scandalous,  and 
could  not  be  permitted  to  pass  without  rebuke. 

Thus  the  good  apostle  found  himself  an- 
noyed in  his  proceedings  by  the  Englishman's 
alcohol,  which,  from  the  first  hour  of  its  intro- 
duction to  the  present  moment,  has  been  a  with- 
ering curse  to  the  poor  Indians. 


172  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

A  meeting  was  held  September  24th,  1651, 
the  appointed  day  of  fasting  and  humiliation. 
Cutshamakin's  misconduct  had  become  pub- 
licly known,  and  he  was  forbidden  to  take  any 
share  in  the  teaching  on  this  solemn  occasion. 
But  he  began  the  exercise  with  an  humble  con- 
fession of  his  sin  before  them  all.  He  offered 
a  short  prayer,  in  which  he  acknowledged  his 
transgression,  implored  forgiveness  of  God, 
and  entreated  that  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  might 
for  the  future  dwell  in  and  govern  his  heart 
One  of  the  Indians  then  prayed,  and  taught 
from  Luke  vii.  36,  to  the  end  of  the  chapter. 
Another  commented  on  the  Lord's  prayer.  A 
third  spoke  from  Matthew  vii.  19,  to  the  end 
of  the  chapter.  These  exercises  they  per- 
formed in  a  manner  which  gratified  Mr.  Eliot. 
He  then  gave  them  a  discourse  from  Ezra  ix. 
3  and  9,  in  which  he  explained  the  nature  and 
meaning  of  a  day  of  fasting.  "  By  the  parable 
of  a  nut,"  says  he,  with  his  usual  simplicity 
of  illustration,  "  I  showed  that  outward  acts 
are  as  the  shell,  which  is  necessary,  but  a 
broken  and  believing  heart  is  the  kernel." 

There  was  then  a  pause  in  the  services  for 
refreshment,  during  which  we  learn,  that  "  a 
question  came,  whether  it  were  lawful  to  take 
a  pipe  of  tobacco."  They  soon  reassembled, 
and  some  of  the  Indian  teachers  addressed  the 
meeting.  Night  was  drawing  on  ;   and  Mr.  Eliot 


JOHN     ELIOT.  173 

closed  the  exercises  by  a  discourse  from  Deu- 
teronomy xxix.  1-16.  He  next  recited  the 
covenant,*  to  which  first  the  rulers,  then  the 
people,  all  gave  their  assent.  A  collection  was 
taken  for  the  poor  ;  and,  as  evening  approached, 
the  work  of  the  day,  which  Mr.  Eliot  in  the  joy 
of  his  heart  called  "  that  blessed  day,"  was 
finished.  These  proceedings  constituted  the 
first  public  and  formal  act  of  civil  polity  among 
the  Indians  of  North  America.f 

Thus,  in  the  spirit  of  piety  and  good  order, 
a  town  of  "  praying  Indians  "  was  established, 
with  such  religious,  civil,  and  economical  regu- 
lations as  seemed  to  give  fair  promise  of  a 
prosperous  issue.  It  was  natural,  that  the 
founder  should  wish  some  of  the  leading  men  of 
the  colony  to  take  note  of  the  settlement.  On 
the  8th  of  October,  which  was  the  next  lecture- 
day,  Governor  Endicot,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Wil- 
son, and  many  others  visited  Natick,  to  see 
for  themselves  what  the  pious  industry  of  Eliot 
had  done  for  the  natives.  Soon  after  their  ar- 
rival, the  usual  religious  service  was  attended. 
One  of  the  best  instructed  of  the  Indians  dis- 
coursed to  his  brethren.  The  Governor  and 
others  were  so  much  interested  in  his  manner 

*  This  covenant,  with  the  addition  recommended  by  Mr. 
Cotton,  is  given  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Eliot,  in  Further  Pro~ 
gresse  of  the  Gospel,  pp.  10,  12. 

f  Ibid.,  pp.  9-14. 

Q  2 


174  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

and  appearance,  that  they  desired  Mr.  Eliot  to 
write  down  the  substance  of  his  remarks. 

The  subject  of  his  discourse  was  taken  from 
the  parables  of  the  treasure  hidden  in  a  field, 
and  of  the  merchant  man  seeking  goodly  pearls, 
Matthew  xiii.  44-46.  These  he  explained 
with  much  good  sense,  and  with  appropriate 
applications.  The  hidden  treasure  was  the 
knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ,  including  repent- 
ance, pardon,  and  the  means  of  grace ;  the 
field  where  it  was  found  was  the  Christian 
church ;  the  things  to  be  parted  with  in  order 
to  gain  it  were  their  old  customs  and  vices, 
every  thing,  in  short,  which  hindered  them 
from  receiving,  with  the  true  spirit,  the  bles- 
sings of  the  Gospel.  The  merchant  man  was 
the  seeker  after  God  and  truth,  such  as  the 
poor  praying  Indian ;  the  pearl  of  great  price 
was  faith  in  the  Savior,  connected  with  repen- 
tance for  sin;  the  riches  that  he  possessed 
were  interpreted  to  mean  former  evil  courses 
and  manners ;  and  these  were  sold,  that  is, 
sins  must  be  cast  away,  for  the  sake  of  the 
pearl.  On  these  points  he  dilated  with  fervor, 
and  applied  them  with  hearty  feeling  to  the 
condition  of  his  Indian  brethren. 

This  specimen  of  native  preaching  certainly 
furnishes  striking  evidence  of  the  Christian 
advancement,  to  which  Eliot  had  conducted 
some  of  his  disciples  in  the  wilderness.     The 


JOHN     ELIOT.  175 

apostle  had  not  labored  in  vain,  for  the  true 
life  was  in  those  words ;  and  when  they  were 
heard  in  the  deep  tranquillity  of  that  retired 
spot,  which  till  now  had  echoed  with  few  other 
sounds  than  the  wolf's  long  howl,  or  the  fierce 
war-hoop  of  the  savage,  the  heart  must  have 
been  hard  and  dry,  that  was  not  moved  by  the 
presence  of  such  a  spirit  in  such  a  place. 

Of  this  visit  to  Natick  both  Governor  Endi- 
cot  and  Mr.  Wilson  have  left  interesting  ac- 
counts in  letters,  which  they  wrote  at  the  time 
to  the  corporation  in  England.  They  speak 
with  delight  of  what  they  witnessed.  They 
describe  with  some  particularity  the  objects, 
which  arrested  their  attention  in  the  new  set- 
tlement. Mr.  Wilson  takes  special  notice  of 
"  the  firm,  high  foot-bridge,  archwise,"  and 
says  the  Indians  were  much  delighted  to  find 
that  their  bridge  withstood  the  ice  and  floods 
of  the  preceding  season,  while  one  a  few 
miles  from  them  at  Medfield,  built  by  the  Eng- 
lish, was  carried  away.  He  describes  the 
preaching  of  the  Indian  above  mentioned,  as 
being  marked  "  with  great  devotion,  gravity, 
decency,  readiness,  and  affection. "  He  relates, 
that  Mr.  Eliot  prayed  and  preached  in  the  In- 
dian language  for  an  hour,  "  about  coming  to 
Christ  and  bearing  his  yoke,"  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  pertinent  questions  on  the  subject 
from  his   converts.      Then   the  Indian   school- 


176  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

master  *  read,  line  by  line,  a  psalm  translated 
by  Eliot,  which  the  men  and  women  sung  "  in 
one  of  our  ordinary  English  tunes  melodiously." 
Wilson  and  the  Governor  were  too  much  af- 
fected to  be  silent.  They  each  addressed  an 
exhortation  and  a  word  of  encouragement  to 
the  natives,  which  the  apostle  was  requested 
to  translate  and  explain  to  them.  Endicot 
affirms,  that  he  could  scarcely  refrain  from 
tears  of  joy  on  the  occasion.  "  Truly,"  says 
he,  "I  account  this  one  of  the  best  journeys  I 
have  made  these  many  years."  He  was  much 
pleased  with  the  skill  and  ingenuity  the  natives 
displayed  in  their  various  works.  One  kind  of 
manufacture  he  found  among  them,  which  rath- 
er surprises  us  ;  "  They  have  made,"  he  says, 
"  drums  of  their  own  with  heads  and  braces 
very  neatly  and  artificially."  f     The  next  sum- 

*  His  name  was  Monequassun. 

f  The  following  fact,  mentioned  by  Gookin,  will  show 
that  drums  at  that  period  were  sometimes  devoted  to  other 
than  martial  uses.  Describing  the  Indian  mode  of  worship, 
he  says,  "Upon  the  Lord's  days,  fast-days,  and  lecture- 
days,  the  people  assemble  together  at  the  sound  of  a  drum, 
(for  bells  they  yet  have  not,)  twice  a  day,"  &c. —  1  M.  H. 
Coll., I.  183.  But  the  Indians  were  not  the  only  ones,  who 
were  summoned  to  public  worship  in  this  singular  manner. 
The  good  people  of  Cambridge  at  one  time  had  the  same 
practice.  Johnson  describes  one  who,  in  1636,  wandered 
to  that  town,  and  came  to  a  large  plain  ;  "  no  sooner  was 
he  entered  therein,  but,  hearing  the  sound  of  a  drum,  he 


JOHN     ELIOT.  177 

mer  they  were  to  build  a  water-mill,  concern- 
ing which  the  advice  of  the  Governor  and  other 
gentlemen  was  requested. 

It  was  a  plan,  which  Mr.  Eliot  had  much  at 
heart,  to  qualify  the  natives  to  instruct  one  an- 
other. I  have  already  mentioned  the  Indian 
schoolmaster  at  Natick.  Endicot  and  Wilson 
state,  that  this  man  could  read,  spell,  and  write 
English  correctly,  and  that  his  success  with 
his  pupils  gave  good  promise.  Mr.  Eliot's  ob- 
ject was  to  prepare  some  of  the  most  gifted, 
intelligent,  and  serious  of  the  Indians  to  be- 
come the  religious  instructors  of  their  own 
people.  He  wished  to  form  a  kind  of  seminary 
from  which  young  natives,  well  taught  and  well 
disciplined,  should  go  forth  as  missionaries  to 
distant  places.  "  There  be  several  providences 
of  God,"  says  he,  "  appearing  to  work,  which 
make  me  think,  that  the  most  effectual  and  gen- 
was  directed  towards  it  by  a  broad  beaten  way  ;  following- 
this  road,  he  demands  of  the  next  man  he  met,  what  the 
signal  of  the  drum  meant ;  the  reply  was  made,  they  had 
as  yet  no  bell  to  call  men  to  meeting,  and  therefore  made 
use  of  a  drum."  —  Wonder-working  Providence,  B.  I.  ch.  43. 
Dr.  Holmes,  however,  says  there  is  evidence,  that  "  the 
church  had  a  bell  at  first,"  and  then  adds,  "  A  drum,  for 
what  reason  does  not  now  appear,  was  afterwards  substi- 
tuted in  its  place."  —  History  of  Cambridge,  1  M.  H.  Coll. 
VII.  18.  If  the  use  of  the  drum  was  a  matter  of  choice, 
and  did  not  arise  from  the  want  of  a  bell,  the  fact  is  one  of 
curious,  however  trivial,  interest. 

VOL.   v.  12 


178  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

eral  way  of  spreading  the  Gospel  will  be  by 
themselves,  when  so  instructed  as  I  have  above 
mentioned.  As  for  my  preaching,  though  such 
whose  hearts  God  hath  bowed  to  attend  can 
pick  up  some  knowledge  by  my  broken  expres- 
sions, yet  I  see  that  it  is  not  so  taking  and 
effectual  to  strangers,  as  their  own  expressions 
be,  who  naturally  speak  unto  them  in  their  own 
tongue." 

Accordingly  he  was  accustomed  to  select 
two  of  them  each  Sabbath  "  to  exercise,"  as 
he  termed  it,  intending  thereby  to  habituate 
them  to  a  clear  and  forcible  manner  of  convey- 
ing their  thoughts.  They  were  required  to  re- 
hearse such  portions  of  Scripture  as  he  read  to 
them,  and  to  attend  carefully  to  his  expositions 
as  a  model.  The  ability  they  manifested  in 
these  attempts  was  encouraging,  and  in  prayer 
they  exceeded  his  expectation.  He  left  to  the 
schoolmaster  the  task  of  catechizing  the  chil- 
dren, and  reserved  to  himself  that  of  catechiz- 
ing the  adults,  in  doing  which  he  was  cautious 
and  tender,  lest  he  should  "damp  and  discour- 
age the  weak." 

On  one  occasion  he  mentions  having  tried 
the  experiment  of  these  Indian  missionaries 
among  their  brethren.  Mr.  Winthrop,  son  of 
the  Massachusetts  governor,  advised  him  to 
send  two  discreet  men  to  the  most  powerful 
sachem   among  the  Narragansets.     He  thought 


JOHN     ELIOT.  ]79 

the  Indians  in  those  parts  might  be  stirred  up 
to  attend  to  religion,  and  would  have  questions 
to  propose,  which  might  furnish  occasion  for 
spreading  the  truth  among  them.  Mr.  Eliot 
followed  the  advice.  He  sent  a  present  by  his 
missionaries  to  conciliate  good  will.  The  sa- 
chem accepted  the  present,  but  treated  with 
contempt  the  offer  of  religious  instruction. 
The  mission  at  first  seemed  likely  to  prove  a 
failure.  But  when  Eliot's  two  Indians  went 
among  the  people,  especially  such  as  were 
somewhat  remote  from  the  influence  of  the 
leading  men,  they  found  more  willing  hearers, 
who  asked  many  questions,  and  expressed  a 
strong  desire  for  instruction  in  the  Gospel. 
The  particulars  of  the  interview  are  not  stated. 
Many  of  the  Indians  scattered  through  the 
Nipnet  country  sent  a  request  to  the  "praying 
Indians  "  for  religious  teachers.  Occasionally 
Mr.  Eliot  despatched  some  of  the  best  and 
most  skilful  to  different  places  on  short  mis- 
sions ;  and  they  returned  not  without  success. 
The  territory  of  Natick  was  granted  to  the 
"  praying  Indians  "  by  the  inhabitants  of  Ded- 
ham,  at  the  intercession  of  Mr.  Eliot.  The 
Indians  gave  the  people  of  Dedham,  in  ex- 
change, the  township  which  is  now  called 
Deerfield.  The  grant  from  Dedham  was  con- 
firmed  by   the   General    Court.      The  original 


180  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

extent  of  Natick  township  was  about  six  thou- 
sand acres.* 

A  large  part  of  this  land  was  "  the  inheri- 
tance of  John  Speene,  and  his  brethren  and 
kindred."  It  was  desirable,  that  they  should, 
by  a  formal  act,  resign  their  right  in  it,  before 
the  settlement  was  finally  organized.  To  this 
proposal  they  willingly  consented.  Accord- 
ingly on  a  lecture-day  in  1650,  they,  in  a  pub- 
lic and  solemn  manner,  "  gave  away  all  the 
right  and  interest,  which  they  formerly  had  in 
the  land  in  and  about  Natick,  unto  the  publick 
interest  of  the  town,"  reserving  nothing  to 
themselves  but  the  wears  on  the  river  for 
catching  fish.f  Of  the  land,  they  only  took 
house-lots  as  others  did.  For  this  quitclaim 
"  they  received  a  gratuity  unto  their  good  con- 
tentment." Another  family  made  a  similar 
surrender  of  their  property. 

It  was  Eliot's  original  intention  to  collect 
all  the  "  praying  Indians  "  into  one  community 
at  Natick.     But  the    Cohanit  J  Indians  had  re- 

*  So  it  is  stated  in  Biglow's  History  of  Natick.  Dr. 
Homer,  in  his  History  of  Newton,  says  it  was  a  "fertile  and 
beautiful  tract  of  about  three  thousand  acres."  —  1  M.  H. 
Coll.,V.  263. 

f  This  appears  from  a  record,  in  the  handwriting  of  Eliot, 
among  the  archives  of  Natick,  quoted  by  Biglow  in  his 
History  of  that  town,  p.  23. 

\  This  was  the  Indian  name  for  the  territory  now  con- 
stituting Taunton  and  Raynham. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  18 1 

served  a  spot  for  themselves,  where  they  wished 
to  fix  their  settlement.  Mr.  Eliot  found,  that 
he  could  not  take  that  place  for  the  site  of  his 
town,  without  opposition  from  the  English. 
He  therefore  rejected  it,  and  pitched  upon  Na- 
tick.  This  preference  created  among  the  Co- 
hanit  Indians  a  suspicion,  that  the  apostle  had 
more  affection  for  his  other  converts  than  for 
them.  The  influence  of  this  circumstance,  to- 
gether with  the  death  of  Cutshamakin,*  and 
the  succession  of  Josias  as  sachem,  so  alien- 
ated their  feelings,  that  they  would  take  no 
part  in  the  Natick  establishment.  They  did 
not,  however,  relinquish  the  design  of  a  settle- 
ment, but  determined  to  effect  it  at  Punkapog,f 
the  place  of  their  first  choice. 

Mr.  Eliot  says,  that  three  towns  more  were 
in  preparation.  He  came  to  the  conclusion, 
that  separate  settlements  would  be  better  for 
the  Indians,  than  his  first  plan  of  bringing  them 
into  one.  He  found,  that  Natick  would  not  have 
afforded  convenient  accommodation  for  them 
all,  and  that,  had  he  gathered  the  whole  body 
of  his  disciples  there,  they  would  probably  soon 
have   been  compelled  to  separate  and  scatter, 

*  I  have  found  no  notice  of  the  time  of  this  sachem's 
death.  Mr.  Eliot's  tract,  in  which  the  above  facts  are  men- 
tioned, was  published  in  1655.  Cutshamakin's  death  was 
then  probably  recent. 

t  Now  called  Stoughton. 

R 


182  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

which  perhaps  would  have  discouraged  them  at 
the  outset.  By  living  in  smaller  companies, 
they  would  find  their  condition  improved,  and 
be  more  contented.  These  happy  effects  they 
had  already  experienced  at  Natick,  and  were 
beginning  to  experience  at  Punkapog,  "  through 
God's  mercy  and  the  bounty  of  the  good  peo- 
ple in  England,  whose  love  laid  the  foundation- 
stone  of  the  work."  * 

*  Eliot's  Brief  Narration  of  the  Indians  Proceedings 
in  respect  of  Church-Estate,  fyc,  pp.  2,  3. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  183 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Proposed  Organization  of  a  Church  at  JSatick.  — 
Examination  and  Confessions  of  the  Indians.  — 
Delays. —  Intemperance  among  the  Indians. — 
Further  Examinations.  —  A  Church  established. 
—  Affectionate  Regards  and  Kind  Services  of 
the  Christian  Natives.  —  Misrepresentations  as 
to  Eliot  and  his  Work. —  Appointment  of  Eng- 
lish Magistrates  for  the  "Praying  Indians" 

The  principles  of  civil  order  and  social  in- 
dustry had  now  taken  root  in  the  wilderness. 
The  solitary  place  was  made  glad.  The  pleas- 
ant sounds  of  the  axe  and  the  hammer  were 
heard  in  the  woods,  as  well  as  the  cry  of  the 
wild  hunter.  The  habitations  of  order  and 
peace  sprung  up  by  the  river-side,  where  men 
either  had  not  been,  or  had  been  only  as  those 
who  roam  in  idle  vacancy  or  in  pursuit  of 
blood.  The  germ  of  spiritual  life  was  devel- 
oped, where  the  animal  man  alone  had  ruled, 
and  all  had  been  dark  and  cold.  When  the 
apostle  visited  the  spot,  his  heart  was  filled 
with  that  grateful  gladness,  which  the  achieve- 
ment of  a  benevolent  work  kindles  in  the  good 
man's  soul.  But  he  had  a  still  further  object 
in  view,  to  which   what  he  had  hitherto   done 


184  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

was  meant  to  be  subservient.  He  wished  now 
to  gather  his  Indians  into  a  Christian  church. 
The  civil  organization  was  to  be  followed  by 
the  ecclesiastical. 

He  approached  this  point  in  the  progress  of 
his  plans  with  deliberate  caution.  To  form  his 
converts  into  "  a  church  estate "  was  a  pro- 
ceeding, into  which  he  would  admit  nothing 
that  even  appeared  like  haste  or  carelessness. 
Perhaps  he  ascribed  a  disproportionate  impor- 
tance to  this  outward  act,  considered  in  itself. 
He  may  have  been  too  much  disposed,  as  is 
frequently  the  case,  to  regard  it  as  the  end, 
rather  than  as  one  of  the  means,  of  the  Chris- 
tian life.  But  when  we  remember  that,  in 
point  of  fact,  this  step  was  looked  upon  as  the 
crowning  evidence  of  piety,  we  shall  applaud 
the  cautious  reverence,  with  which  he  guarded 
against  precipitation,  in  respect  to  men  like  his 
catechumens,  of  whose  religious  proficiency  or 
soundness  it  was  so  difficult  to  have  satisfac- 
tory assurance. 

His  contemporaries  observed  and  praised  his 
Christian  prudence  on  this  subject.  It  was  re- 
marked, that,  if  he  had  been  disposed  to  hurry 
the  Indians  to  baptism,  as  the  Catholics  in 
South  America  had  done,  or  had  bribed  them 
to  a  profession  by  giving  them  coats  and  shirts, 
he  could  long  ago  have  collected  hundreds  or 
thousands  under  the  name  of  churches.    "  But," 


J  0  H  ^     ELIOT.  185 

it  was  added,  "  we  have  not  learnt  as  yet,  that 
art  of  coining  Christians,  or  of  putting  Christ's 
name  and  image  upon  copper  metal."  *  When, 
therefore,  Mr.  Eliot  at  length  believed  there 
was  good  ground  for  proceeding  to  constitute 
a  church  of  "  praying  Indians,"  we  may  be 
sure  it  was,  at  least,  no  decision  of  hasty 
enthusiasm. 

He  was  persuaded,  that  it  was  time  to  take 
this  step.  As  a  preparation  for  it,  in  the  summer 
of  1652,  on  the  Sabbaths  and  lecture-days,  he 
was  accustomed  to  require  from  many  of  them 
statements  of  their  religious  knowledge  and 
experience.  These  they  gave  with  much  so- 
lemnity, and  he  wrote  down  their  sayings  and 
confessions.  He  then  requested  the  elders  of 
neighboring  churches  to  hear  them,  that  he 
might  have  their  advice.  His  brethren  were  so 
much  pleased  with  these  confessions,  that  they 
deemed  it  expedient  to  hold  a  solemn  meeting 
on  the  subject  at  Natick.  A  day  of  fasting 
and  prayer  was  appointed  ;  the  names  of  the 
Indians,  who  were  to  present  their  confessions, 
were  sent  to  the  churches  in  the  vicinity ;  and 
a  large  assembly  came  together  to  witness  their 
qualifications  for  church  fellowship. 

This  was  on  the  13th  of  October,  1652.  The 
morning,    until   eleven    o'clock,  was    spent  in 

#  The  Day-Breaking  of  the  Gospel,  &c,  p.  15 

R2 


186  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

prayer  and  in  discourses  by  Mr.  Eliot  and  two 
of  the  Indians.  The  elders  were  then  request- 
ed to  ask  such  questions,  as  might  put  to  the 
test  the  religious  knowledge  and  feelings  of 
the  catechumens.  But  it  was  thought  best  to 
hear  their  confessions,  both  such  as  they  had 
formerly  made  and  such  as  they  might  now 
make  before  the  assembly,  and  then  to  pro- 
pose questions,  if  it  should  seem  necessary. 
Five  of  them  were  called  forth  in  succession, 
and  gave  statements  of  their  religious  views 
and  feelings.  Many  more  were  ready;  but, 
when  these  had  finished  their  confessions,  the 
time  was  so  far  spent,  that  it  became  necessary 
to  close  the  exercise. 

The  Indians  were  slow  of  speech  ;  and  they 
spoke  the  more  slowly,  because  Mr.  Eliot 
wished  to  write  down  all  they  said.  He  some- 
times found  it  difficult  to  understand  fully 
every  sentence,  and  intimates,  with  all  Chris- 
tian gentleness,  that  they  were  disposed  to  be 
tediously  prolix.  These  circumstances,  he  says, 
"  did  make  the  work  longsome,  considering 
the  enlargement  of  spirit  God  gave  some  of 
them."  This  is  not  the  only  case,  in  which 
verbosity  has  been  considered  as  the  result  of 
spiritual  influence.  Of  the  confession  of  the 
Indian  schoolmaster,  who  had  probably  ac- 
quired a  greater  facility  of  speaking  than  the 
rest,  it  is   particularly  recorded,  that  it  was 


JOHN     ELIOT.  187 

growing  very  long  and  wordy,  when  the  audi- 
ence began  to  tire  and  go  out,  and  there  was 
great  confusion  both  within  and  around  the 
house.  Mr.  Eliot  was  obliged  to  cut  short  the 
schoolmaster's  speech,  or,  as  he  expresses  it, 
"  took  him  off,"  and  called  another. 

The  assembly  found,  that,  if  they  heard  all, 
sunset  would  overtake  them,  and  leave  them  to 
find  their  way  home,  in  a  dark,  cold  night, 
through  the  woods.  The  elders,  therefore,  ad- 
vised Mr.  Eliot  to  proceed  no  farther  at  pres- 
ent, but  to  assure  the  Indians,  that  nothing  but 
want  of  time  prevented  them  from  listening  to 
all  the  speeches.  This  was  said,  that  they 
might  not  be  discouraged  by  an  appearance  of 
neglect,  or  by  the  present  disappointment  of 
their  wishes  respecting  a  church  organization. 
Eliot  had  expected  the  assistance  of  Mr.  May- 
hew  from  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  Mr.  Lever- 
idge*  from  Sandwich  on  this  occasion;  but 
they  failed  to  attend.  The  interpreters  also, 
whom  he  had  sent  for  to  facilitate  the  work,  did 
not  appear.  The  whole  burden,  therefore, 
came  on  him.  "  I  was  alone,"  says  he,  "  as  I 
have  been  wont  to  be."     This  was   another  of 

*  Mr.  Leveridge  was  noted  for  hrs  pious  labors  among 
the  Indians  in  and  about  Sandwich.  A  letter  from  him 
may  be  found  in  3  M.  H.  Coll.,  IV.  180.  A  brief  notice  of 
him  is  given  by  Mr.  Savage  in  a  note  on  Winthrop,  Vol.  I 
p.  115. 


188  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

the  circumstances,  which  retarded  the  business 
of  the  day.  He  gave  his  converts  a  word  of 
encouragement,  and  promised  them  a  second 
similar  meeting.  The  elders  expressed  to  the 
apostle  a  warm  approbation  of  his  labors,  and 
strengthened  his  heart  by  their  kind  sympathy. 
Our  faithful  evangelist  prepared  an  account 
of  the  transactions  at  this  meeting,  containing 
a  report  of  all  the  Indian  confessions.  This 
was  published  in  London  for  the  information 
of   the    Society  for   Propagating  the  Gospel.* 

#  See  the  tract  entitled  Tears  of  Repentance,  fyc.,  pub- 
lished in  1653.  Among  the  prefatory  matter  is  an  ad- 
dress from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Eliot  to  "  His  Excellency,  the 
Lord  General  Cromwell,"  which  is  full  of  such  warm  praise 
of  that  extraordinary  man,  as  might  be  called  flattery,  were 
it  not  evidently  the  offspring  of  religious  conviction.  "  The 
Lord,"  says  Eliot  to  the  Protector,  "hath  not  only  kept 
your  honor  unstained,  but  also  caused  the  lustre  of  those 
precious  graces  of  humility,  faith,  love  of  truth,  and  love 
to  the  saints,  &c,  with  which  through  his  free  grace  he 
hath  enriched  you,  to  shine  forth  abundantly,  beyond  all 
exception  of  any  that  are  or  have  been  adversaries  to  your 
proceedings."  This  eminently  able  Leader  of  the  Saints 
received  as  much  adulation,  under  the  guise  of  pious 
speeches,  and  loved  it  as  well,  as  the  proudest  of  the  line 
of  Stuarts.  Eliot  compliments  Cromwell  for  "  the  favora- 
ble respect  he  hath  always  showed  to  poor  New  England," 
and  says,  "  In  your  great  services  unto  the  name  of  Christ, 
I  doubt  not  but  it  will  be  some  comfort  to  your  heart  to  see 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  rising  up  in  these  western  parts  of 
the  world."  Mr.  Came  gives  us  a  beautifully  sketched 
conception  of  what  he  imagines  must  have  been  the  Pro- 


JOHN     ELIOT 


u 


Eliot  averred,  that  he  had  been  consciei  'tushr 
scrupulous  in  giving  the  true  substanc<  of  the 
Indian  speeches  ;  indeed,  that,  instead  of  mak- 
ing them  better  than  the  reality,  he  feared  he 
had  weakened  them  by  omissions  and  abridg- 
ment. There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  rigor 
ous  truth  of  his  affirmation.  The  ministers, 
and  others  present  on  the  occasion,  were  highly 
pleased  with  the  confessions.  Richard  Mather, 
particularly,  spoke  of  them,  and  of  the  whole 
scene,  with  the  warmest  satisfaction. 

These  confessions  are  certainly  valuable,  as 
honest  specimens  of  the  manner,  in  which  the 
inward  life  of  the  soul  struggled  forth  in  these 
rude  but  sincere  children  of  nature.  They  are, 
as  we  should  expect,  incoherent  and  broken, 
full  of  repetitions  and  wordy  sentences,  some- 
times    extravagant,    and     sometimes    without 

tector's  feelings,  when  thus  addressed  by  the  Apostle  to 
the  Indians.  (Lives  of  Eminent  Missionaries,  Vol.  I.  pp. 
41,  42.)  But  the  reader's  judgment  of  the  fidelity  of  the 
picture  will  depend  very  much  on  his  opinion  of  Cromwell. 
Mr.  Carne  makes  a  statement,  for  which  one  would  be  glad 
to  know  his  authority.  He  represents  it  as  an  instance  of 
the  delusions  of  the  heart,  that  the  Protector  "  should  write 
to  the  man  of  God  with  earnest  concern  and  affection  for 
the  perishing  heathen,  while  the  blood  of  his  King  was 
scarcely  washed  from  his  hand."  If  Cromwell  ever  wrote 
to  Eliot,  it  is  a  fact  of  which  my  inquiries  have  furnished 
no  evidence.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  that  Mr.  Carne  has  not 
given  the  letter,  or  at  least  his  authority  for  the  assertion. 


190  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

much  meaning.  But  no  serious  person  can 
read  them  without  feeling  a  conviction,  that 
the  crude  minds,  from  which  they  came,  were 
awakened  to  some  apprehension  of  the  truths 
of  salvation,  and  were  earnest  seekers  after 
the  way  of  God,  however  confused  their  con- 
ceptions of  it  might  be. 

There  are  some  expressions,  which  seem 
rather  like  the  mechanical  repetition  of  what 
they  had  heard,  than  the  spontaneous  outpour- 
ings of  their  own  hearts.  This  was  naturally 
to  be  expected,  and  may  easily  be  excused. 
But  there  is  enough  of  another  kind  to  show 
us  that  divine  truth  was  breaking  into  their 
souls,  that  some  of  its  rays  had  struck  through 
the  darkness  of  barbarity.  A  seed  was  cast 
into  the  ground ;  and,  though  it  might  be  the 
least  of  all  seeds,  still  it  contained  a  vital 
principle,  from  which  the  tree  of  life  might 
spring. 

In  some  of  the  confessions  there  is  a  pecu- 
liar air  of  honesty.  One  acknowledged,  that 
he  first  became  a  praying  Indian,  not  because 
he  understood  or  cared  for  religion,  but  be- 
cause he  loved  the  English,  and  wished  them 
to  love  him.  This  impulse  of  feeling  brought 
him  into  a  state  of  mind,  which  resulted  in 
deep  and  abiding  convictions.  Another  said, 
in  a  spirit  of  sadness,  "  My  heart  is  foolish, 
and  a  great  part  of  the  word  stayeth  not  in  it 
strongly." 


JOHN     ELIOT.  191 

Mr.  Eliot  closes  his  account  with  the  story 
of  two  little  children,  under  three  years  of  age, 
who  died  showing,  as  he  believed,  great  "man- 
ifestation of  faith."  While  we  may  regret,  that 
the  good  man  should  have  been  carried  so  far 
by  his  kind  interest  in  these  lambs  of  his  flock, 
as  to  attach  much  religious  value  to  such  infan- 
tile expressions,  we  cannot  but  feel,  that  there 
is  some  power  of  simple  pathos  in  one  of  the 
anecdotes.  The  mother  had  made  for  the 
amusement  of  the  child  a  little  basket,  a  spoon, 
and  a  tray.  The  child  had  been  much  pleased 
with  these  toys  when  in  health ;  but  in  the 
extremity  of  his  sickness,  when  the  mother 
brought  them  to  divert  his  attention  from  suf- 
fering, he  pushed  them  away,  and  said,  "  I  will 
leave  my  basket  behind  me,  for  1  am  going  to 
God ;  I  will  leave  my  spoon  and  tray  behind 
me,  for  I  am  going  to  God." 

The  next  year  nothing  was  done  towards 
the  formation  of  an  Indian  church  at  Natick. 
Before  Mr.  Eliot  proceeded  further,  he  wished 
to  receive  some  answer  or  information  from 
England  respecting  the  account,  which  he  had 
transmitted  thither,  of  the  doings  of  the  pre^ 
ceding  year.  No  such  communication,  nor 
the  printed  account  itself,  which  he  wanted  for 
distribution  at  home,  had  reached  him  in  sea- 
son. Another  reason  for  the  delay  was,  that 
the  "praying   Indians  "  had,  in  the  mean  time, 


192  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

incurred  an  unjust  obloquy,  which  threw  a  tem- 
porary check  and  discouragement  on  Mr.  Eli- 
ot's proceedings. 

Hostilities  had  commenced  between  the 
mother  country  and  the  Dutch,  which  affected 
the  relations  of  the  respective  colonies  of  those 
countries.  In  1653  much  alarm  was  excited 
by  information,  received  by  the  Massachusetts 
government  from  the  Indians,  that  the  Dutch 
governor  of  the  colony  at  Manhadoes  had  been 
attempting  to  draw  them  into  a  confederacy  for 
the  destruction  of  the  English  settlements.* 
It  was  believed,  that  such  a  conspiracy  was  on 
foot,  and  a  groundless  rumor  was  spread,  that 
the  "  praying  Indians  "  were  among  the  num- 
ber engaged  in  the  confederacy. 

The  government  of  Massachusetts  gave  no 
credit  to  the  report ;  but  it  was  sufficiently  be- 
lieved in  the  community  to  create  a  strong  feel- 
ing of  jealousy,  and  some  ill  will,  towards  the 
Christian  natives.  Eliot  deemed  it  inexpedient 
to  make  any  movement  about  their  church  af- 
fairs, while  "  the  waters  were  so  troubled  "  ; 
for,  perhaps,  the  minds  even  of  many  serious 
persons  might  be  alienated  by  the  force  of  pop- 
ular opinion.  We  shall  find  subsequently,  in  the 
transactions  connected  with  Philip's  war,  an- 
other more  strong  manifestation  of  this  dispo- 

*  Hutchinson,  Vol.  I.  p.  165    et  seq. 


JOHN      ELIOT.  193 

sition    among   the   people  to  cherish  suspicions 
of  perfidv  on  the  part  of  the  Christian  Indians 

It  happened,  that  after  the  published  ace  ; 
before    mentioned,    entitled     Tears   of  Repent- 
ance.   <yc.   had   been   receive;:     from    England, 

:  was  a  great  meeting  at  Boston,  at  v. 
the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  were 
present.  Our  apostle,  ever  watchful  for  the 
Indian  interest,  availed  himself  of  this  opportu- 
nity to  prepare  the  way  for  further  pre; 
ings  at  Natick.  He  proposed  to  the  assembly, 
that,  as  they  had  now  seen  the  confessions  of 
his  catechumens,  there  should  be  another  ex- 
amination as  to  their  knowledge  in  th< 
mental  points  of  religion.  If  the  result  should 
be  satisfactory,  and  if  trustworthy  testimony 
should  be  received  as  to  their  Christian  walk 
and  conversation,  he  inquired  whethei  the  or- 
ganization of  a  church  among  them  would  be  a 
transaction  acceptable  to  Christians.  He  re- 
ceived an  answer  expressive  of  general  ap- 
probation. 

Accordingly,  in  1654.  Eliot  requested  the 
advice  and  assistance  of  the  elders  of  the 
churches    in   this    matter.     He    proposed,   that 

should,  at  a  convenient  season,  take  ample 
time  by  the  aid  of  interpreters  to  examine  into 
the  knowledge  which  the    Indians  had  oi  reli- 
gion, that  they  might   by   personal   inspe 
be  prepared  to   judge   and    testify,  as    to    their 

I    v.  13  v 


194  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

qualifications  to  be  gathered  into  a  church. 
The  elders  consented  to  the  proposal ;  and  it 
was  resolved,  that  the  time  should  be  fixed  for 
a  deliberate  investigation.  Meanwhile  a  fast 
was  ordered,  on  some  other  account,  in  the 
churches ;  and  the  Indians  also  observed  the 
day  with  reference  to  the  appointed  meeting. 

But,  about  ten  days  before  the  examination 
took  place,  an  incident  occurred,  which  had 
well  nigh  occasioned  much  scandal  and  dis- 
couragement. By  means,  however,  of  strict 
discipline,  its  bad  effects  were  obviated.  Three 
of  the  loose  and  unsound  part  of  the  "  praying 
Indians,"  who  were  perpetually  bringing  re- 
proach on  the  rest,  had  procured  several  quarts 
of  "  strong  water "  from  those  among  the 
English  who  were  ready  to  furnish  them  with 
the  fiery  poison,  and  had  made  themselves 
drunk.*  There  was  at  Natick  a  ruler  by  the 
name  of  Toteswamp,  a  man  of  gravity  and 
authority.  It  happened,  that  he  had  sent  his 
child,  a  boy  eleven  years  old,  to  get  some  corn 
and  fish  at  the  place  where  these  drunken  In- 
dians were  holding  their  revel.  One  of  them 
gave  the  boy  two  spoonfuls  of  rum,  which 
turned  his  head.  Another  put  a  bottle  to  his 
mouth,  and  made  him  drink  till  he  was  entirely 
intoxicated.     When  they  had  done  this,   they 

*  SeeAppENDix.No.il. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  195 

cried  out  jeeringly,  "  Now  we  shall  see  whether 
your  father  will  punish  us  for  drunkenness, 
since  you  are  drunk  as  well  as  we."  The  In- 
dians soon  began  to  fight,  and  the  boy  in  this 
situation  lay  abroad  all  night. 

When  this  was  reported  at  Natick,  Tote- 
swamp  and  the  rest  were  deeply  grieved.  He 
called  the  other  rulers  together  to  determine 
what  should  be  done  in  consequence  of  this 
scandal.  They  sat  as  a  court  of  judgment  on 
the  case,  and  found  that  four  transgressions 
had  been  committed,  namely,  drunkenness, 
making  the  child  drunk,  reproachful  contempt 
of  rulers,  and  fighting. 

In  the  mean  time,  intelligence  of  this  shame- 
ful business  reached  Mr.  Eliot  at  Roxbury,  just 
as  he  was  taking  his  horse  on  Saturday  to  go 
to  Natick  for  the  Sabbath.  The  good  apostle 
was  sorely  afflicted  by  it,  and  said  he  judged  it 
"  to  be  the  greatest  frown  of  God  he  had  ever 
met  in  his  work."  He  thought  of  the  scandal 
it  might  bring  on  the  cause  nearest  to  his 
heart,  at  the  moment  when  he  was  looking  for 
the  consummation  of  his  religious  establish- 
ment, and  his  spirit  sunk  within  him.  He  was 
the  more  grieved,  because  one  of  the  offenders 
was  an  Indian,  who  had  served  him  as  an  inter- 
preter, and  whose  aid  he  had  used  in  translating 
a  large  part  of  the  Scriptures.  The  sin  of  this 
man  was  a  hard  trial  to  the  evangelist ;  but  he 


196  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

hoped  God  would  humble  him,  and  he  deter- 
mined that  he  should  not  act  as  interpreter  on 
the  day  of  examination. 

Eliot  proceeded  to  Natick,  and  there  found 
the  court  of  Indian  rulers  in  session.  As  soon 
as  he  arrived,  they  told  him  the  story  of  the 
shame  that  had  been  brought  upon  them,  and 
asked  his  advice.  Toteswamp  spoke  with  deep 
feeling.  He  considered,  that  it  was  now  put  to 
the  test,  whether  he  loved  the  religion  of  Christ 
better  than  his  child.  He  then  referred  to 
some  Scriptural  precepts  and  examples,  and 
said,  "  God  requires  me  to  punish  my  child  ; 
how  can  I  love  God,  if  I  should  refuse  to  do 
it?"  When  reminded,  that  not  the  boy,  but 
those  who  had  intoxicated  him,  were  to  be 
blamed,  he  replied,  that  the  child  was  guilty  in 
not  giving  heed  to  the  counsel  he  had  often 
heard  to  beware  of  evil  company,  that,  if  he 
had  avoided  sinners,  he  would  not  have- been 
betrayed  into  drunkenness,  and  that  he  de- 
served punishment. 

After  some  conversation,  the  rulers  retired 
to  deliberate  again.  At  length  they  gave  sen- 
tence, that  the  three  offenders  should  sit  in  the 
stocks  a  long  time,  be  taken  thence  to  the 
whipping-post,  and  receive  each  twenty  lashes  ; 
and  that  the  boy  should  sit  in  the  stocks  a 
little  while,  and  then  be  whipped  by  his  father 
at  school  before  all  the  children.     These  judg- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  197 

ments  were  faithfully  executed.  The  men 
were  brought  one  after  another,  by  the  consta- 
ble, to  the  tree  used  for  a  whipping-post,  and 
received  their  punishment.  When  this  was 
done,  each  of  the  rulers  addressed  the  culprits 
and  the  by-standers,  telling  them  that  the  pun- 
ishment was  designed  for  the  good  of  the  of- 
fenders, that  here  they  might  see  the  wages  of 
sin,  and  take  warning  not  to  disgrace  religion 
and  incur  such  shameful  punishment. 

Mr.  Eliot  appears  to  have  left  the  Indians  to 
take  their  own  course  on  this  trying  occasion, 
in  order  that  the  discipline  might  have  the 
better  effect  by  being  the  expression  of  their 
own  spontaneous  indignation  at  the  sin.  He 
returned  to  Roxbury,  and  gave  an  account  of 
the  result  at  Natick  to  one  of  the  elders  of  his 
church.  The  elder  remarked,  that  the  effect 
of  this  affair,  scandalous  as  it  was,  would  on 
the  whole  be  beneficial,  since  the  signal  pun- 
ishment would  be  long  remembered,  and  do 
more  good  than  the  offence  could  do  harm ;  a 
mode  of  educing  good  from  evil,  with  which 
his  minister  was  much  consoled  for  the  tempo- 
rary shame  that  might  fall  upon  his  favorite 
cause. 

It  was  deemed  advisable  for  several  reasons 
to  have  the  proposed  examination  at  Roxbury, 
rather  than  at  Natick.  It  was  accordingly  held 
at   the   former   place,  probably   in  Mf.  Eliot's 

S2 


198  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

meetinghouse,  on  the  13th  of  July,  1654.  Eliot 
despatched  letters  to  such  as  were  acquainted 
with  the  Indian  language,  requesting  their 
presence  and  aid  on  the  occasion.  Of  these  it 
does  not  appear  that  any  attended,  except  Mr. 
Mayhew  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  who  took  an 
interpreter  with  him.  Eliot  had  given  the  In- 
dians notice  of  what  would  be  expected  of 
them  at  the  time,*  and  advised  them  to  pre- 
pare for  it  with  devout  diligence.  The  Natick 
schoolmaster,  who  was  much  wanted  on  the 
occasion,  was  unfortunately  detained  by  ill- 
ness ;  and,  his  disease  being  pulmonary,  it  was 
feared  he  would  not  long  survive.f 

*  They  called  it  Natootomuhtede  kesuk,  i.  e.  "  A  day  of 
asking"  questions."  Neal  incorrectly  gives  this  as  the 
name,  which  the  Indians  applied  to  the  day  of  the  former 
assembly  on  the  13th  of  October,  3652.  (History  of  New 
England,  Vol.  I.  p.  255  )  In  this  mistake  he  is  followed  by 
Mr.  Moore.      (Memoirs  of  Eliot,  p.  69.) 

f  Consumption  seems  to  have  been  a  common  mala- 
dy among  the  New  England  natives.  Gookin  remarks; 
"  Of  this  disease  of  the  consumption  sundry  of  those  In- 
dian youths  died,  that  were  bred  up  to  school  among  the 
English.  The  truth  is,  this  disease  is  frequent  among  the 
Indians  ;  and  sundry  die  of  it,  that  live  not  with  the  Eng- 
lish. A  hectic  fever,  issuing  in  a  consumption,  is  a  com- 
mon and  mortal  disease  among  them."  —  1  M.  H.  Coll., 
I.  173.  And  General  Lincoln,  in  his  Observations  on  the 
Indians  of  North  America,  says,  "  Their  tender  lungs  are 
greatly  affected  by  colds,  which  bring  ^n  consumptive  hab- 
its ;  from  which  disorder,  if  my  information  is  right,  a  large 
proportion  of  them  die."  —  1  M.  H.  Coll.,  V,  7. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  199 

When  the  assembly  had  come  to  order,  Mr. 
Eliot  introduced  the  business  by  stating  the 
object  of  the  meeting.  Liberty  was  given  to 
every  one,  in  due  order,  to  propose  such  ques- 
tions as  he  pleased.  If  any  doubts  respecting 
the  interpretation  of  the  answers  should  be 
entertained,  it  was  desired  that  the  words 
might  be  reexamined  and  thoroughly  sifted  by 
the  interpreters,  so  as  to  leave  nothing  ambig- 
uous or  unsatisfactory. 

In  one  case,  and  probably  in  more,  this  pro- 
cess took  place.  The  question  proposed  to 
the  Indians  was,  How  they  knew  the  Scripture 
to  be  the  word  of  God  ?  They  replied,  "  Be- 
cause they  did  find,  that  it  did  change  their 
hearts,  and  wrought  in  them  wisdom  and  hu- 
mility." Mr.  Mayhew  doubted  the  correctness 
of  the  word  humility*  in  the  translation  of  this 
answer.  It  was  examined  again  by  the  inter- 
preters, and,  their  version  being  proved  to  be 
correct,  Mayhew  was  satisfied.  This  beautiful 
reply,  so  striking  from  the  mouth  of  a  savage, 
expresses  the  principle  of  that  powerful  branch 
of  evidence,  which  arises  from  the  admirable 
adaptation  of  Christianity  to  the  moral  wants 
and  moral  nature  of  man. 

Eliot  intended  to  write  a  precise  record  of 
all    the    questions    and    answers,  but  was  too 

*  The  Indian  word  was  hohpooonk. 


200  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

much  engaged  in  carrying  on  the  business  of 
the  examination  to  attend  to  it,  unless  he  had 
interposed  great  delay.  Mr.  Walton,  one  of 
the  assembly,  wrote  an  exact  report  of  them, 
which,  together  with  Eliot's  narrative  of  the 
whole  proceeding,  was  published  by  the  corpo- 
ration in  London.  It  is  a  valuable  tract.*  The 
questions  concern  all  the  most  prominent  topics 
of  religious  knowledge,  faith,  and  character. 
The  Indians,  according  to  this  report,  certainly 
sustained  the  catechetical  process  with  much 
credit  to  themselves.  Their  answers  generally 
indicate  not  only  a  good  understanding  of  the 
main  points  of  religion,  but  sometimes  more 
quickness  and  clearness  of  thought,  than  one 
would  have#expected  from  them  on  such  sub- 
jects. To  the  question,  "  What  is  sin? "  the 
comprehensive  and  discriminating  answer  was 
given,  "  There  is  the  root  sin,  an  evil  heart ; 
and  there  is  actual  sin,  a  breaking  of  the  law 
of  God." 

We  cannot  but  observe  the  discretion  and 
fairness,  with  which  Eliot  conducted  this  whole 
transaction.  He  seems  to  have  feared  his  own 
partiality  for  the  Indians,  and  to  have  suspected 

*  The  title  is,  A  Late  and  Further  manifestation  of  the 
Progress  of  the  Gospel  amongst  the  Indians  in  Neio  Eng- 
land, fyc.  London,  1655.  This  is  followed  by  The  Ex- 
amination of  the  Indians  at  Roxbury,  the  13th  day  of  the 
4th  month,  1654. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  201 

himself  of  a  disposition  to  proceed  too  fast. 
He  therefore  insisted,  with  the  more  cautious 
rigor,  upon  a  strict  inquest  into  their  qualifica- 
tions, and  upon  the  utmost  deliberation  in  the 
movement.  Two  meetings  had  now  been  held, 
at  each  of  which  the  Indian  catechumens  had 
undergone  no  light  scrutiny.  Still  the  step,  by 
which  they  were  to  be  gathered  into  a  church, 
was  yet  longer  delayed.  For  this  delay  Mr. 
Eliot  assigned  several  reasons.  He  and  some 
others  had  much  confidence  in  the  sincerity  of 
the  Indian  professions.  "  Yet,"  said  he,  "  be- 
cause I  may  be  in  a  temptation  on  that  hand,  I 
am  well  content  to  make  slow  haste  in  this 
matter."  He  felt  strongly  the  necessity  of 
guarding  against  delusion  as  to  appearances  of 
piety  in  men,  who  had  so  lately  been  brought 
from  the  darkness  and  barbarity  of  savage  life. 
Their  steadfastness  needed  to  be  yet  further 
tried. 

In  addition  to  this,  there  was  much  of  jeal- 
ousy and  doubt,  and  something  of  unkindness, 
among  the  people  of  the  colony  towards  the 
"  praying  Indians,"  as  well  as  towards  the 
other  natives  ;  and  time,  it  was  thought,  might 
efface  these  unfavorable  impressions.  Imme- 
diate attention  to  the  affairs  of  the  Indians 
was  prevented  by  a  press  of  other  ecclesiasti- 
cal business  among  the  churches.  Moreover,  a 
more  urgent  want  than  any  other,  as  Eliot  be- 


202  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

lieved,  was  the  want  of  native  preachers  and 
.nstructers  to  go  forth  among  the  tribes,  speak- 
ing to  them  from  their  own  hearts,  and  in  their 
own  way,  and  meeting  them  at  those  numerous 
points  of  sympathy,  which,  the  world  over,  man 
has  with  his  brother  of  the  same  nation.  This 
was  an  object  to  which,  for  the  present,  the 
evangelist  wished  to  devote  his  most  energetic 
labor.  He  was  willing,  under  existing  circum- 
stances, to  defer  the  ecclesiastical  organiza- 
tion, which  he  nevertheless  longed  to  see. 

It  was  not  till  1660,  that  the  Indian  church 
was  formed  at  Natick,  the  first  among  the  na- 
tives of  North  America.  I  have  found  no  par- 
ticular account  of  the  proceedings  on  that  oc- 
casion. We  only  learn,  that  Mr.  Eliot  baptized 
the  catechumens,  and  then  administered  the 
Lord's  supper.  Of  how  many  this  church  at 
first  consisted,  I  believe  it  cannot  now  be 
ascertained.  In  a  postscript  to  Narration 
of  Indian  Proceedings,  fyc,  it  is  stated,  that 
"  the  number  examined  (at  that  time)  was 
about  eight,  namely,  so  many  as  might  be  first 
called  forth  to  enter  into  church  covenant,  if 
the  Lord  give  opportunity."  But  this  was  six 
years  before  the  church  was  organized ;  and 
during  that  time,  we  may  suppose,  additions 
were  made  to  the  number. 

Thus  were  laid  at  Natick  the  foundations  of 
the  first  civil  and   ecclesiastical  community  of 


JOHN     EI  10  T.  203 

Christian  Indians.  I  have  given  a  somewhat 
minute  account  of  these  circumstances,  because 
this  establishment  may  be  regarded  as  the  most 
ample  specimen  of  the  manner,  in  which  Eliot 
designed  to  impart  the  blessings  of  social  or- 
der and  of  the  Christian  faith  to  that  wild  race, 
whom  our  fathers  found  on  these  shores,  when 
they 

"passed  the  sea,  to  keep 
Their  Sabbaths  in  the  eye  of  God  alone, 
In  his  wide  temple  of  the  wilderness." 

That  the  general  principles  of  his  plan  were 
the  result  of  good  sense  and  of  enlightened 
views,  and  that  the  pure  spirit  of  Christian  be- 
nevolence pervaded  his  undertaking,  no  candid 
inquirer,  I  think,  will  question.  We  may  con- 
fidently ask,  whether  the  history  of  missions  at 
that  period,  perhaps  at  any  period,  presents  an 
instance  of  a  similar  work,  in  which  was  mani- 
fested more  true  wisdom,  or  more  affectionate 
diligence. 

It  is  no  dubious  evidence  of  the  excellent 
spirit,  in  which  Eliot  conducted  this  Christian 
enterprise,  that  he  secured  the  hearty  affection, 
and  the  profound  respect  of  the  Indians.  They 
loved  and  venerated  him  as  a  father ;  they 
consulted  him  as  an  oracle  •  they  gathered 
around  him  as  their  best  friend.  They  would 
make  any  sacrifice  to  serve  him,  and  run  any 
risk  to  defend  him. 


204  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Such  feelings  do  not  take  root  and  last  in 
the  bosom  of  the  savage  without  good  cause. 
The  presence  of  Mr.  Eliot,  whenever  he  was 
among  them,  spoke  to  them  in  that  strong  nat- 
ural language,  by  which  a  kind  and  faithful 
spirit  makes  itself  understood  and  felt,  even 
by  the  most  untutored  heart.  They  saw  him 
continually  laboring,  with  that  self-forgetting 
charity  which  was  always  a  bright  grace  in  his 
character,  to  make  them  wiser,  better,  and 
happier ;  and  God  has  written  it  in  the  human 
constitution,  that  man  cannot  see  this  without 
some  grateful  returns  of  affection.  He  too 
loved  them  as  man  loves  those  to  whom  he 
wishes  to  do  good.  He  looked  through  all  the 
outward  circumstances  of  barbarous  manners 
and  wild  habits  of  life,  and  rejoiced  to  find  un- 
der them  the  elements  of  a  capacity  for  im- 
provement, the  germ  of  the  higher  life.  And 
he  would  not  despair  ;  for  he  believed,  that  no 
spirit  can  grovel  so  low,  or  be  so  shut  up  in 
darkness,  but  the  labor  of  faith  and  patience 
can  do  much  to  raise  and  redeem  it  into  light 
and  liberty. 

In  this  place  may  be  stated  the  delight,  with 
which  he  relates,  that  when  the  small-pox 
raged  fatally  among  the  Indians,  in  the  winter 
of  1650-51,  many  of  his  converts  hazard- 
ed their  lives  in  unwearied  attention  to  the 
sick.     There  was  an  aged  paralytic  in  a  loath- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  205 

some  condition,  which  rendered  him  extremely 
troublesome.  His  own  children  became  tired 
of  the  burden  and  forsook  him.  Mr.  Eliot  of- 
fered six  shillings  a  week  to  any  one  who  would 
take  care  of  him.  None  would  undertake  the 
office  for  hire  ;  but  some  of  the  families  of  the 
Christian  Indians  offered  their  services  gratui- 
tously, and  took  charge  of  him  in  this  way  for  a 
long  time.  Others,  who  continued  the  irksome 
task,  were  paid  a  small  sum  from  a  fund  col- 
lected among  themselves. 

Eliot  says,  that  by  speaking  a  word  he  could 
have  raised  an  abundance  from  his  church  and 
other  churches  for  the  relief  of  the  paralytic  ; 
but  he  did  not  choose  to  check  the  action  of 
the  free  charity  of  the  Indians.  He  wished 
them  to  learn,  by  exertion  and  sacrifice,  in  a 
work  of  benevolence,  how  much  more  blessed 
it  is  to  give  than  to  receive. 

The  work,  in  which  Mr.  Eliot  was  engaged, 
did  not  proceed  without  opposition  and  oblo- 
quy from  his  own  countrymen  ;  nor  did  he  per- 
sonally escape  censure.  At  the  close  of  his 
account  of  the  examination  of  the  Indians,  he 
observes  that  his  faith  in  God  was  a  strong 
support  to  him  against  the  suspicions,  the  hard 
speeches,  and  the  unkindness  of  some  men, 
who  denied  the  reality  of  his  success,  and 
blamed  his  management  of  affairs. 

Of  the  nature  of  the  accusations,  to  which  he 
here  alludes,  we  are  not  specifically  informed. 

T 


206  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

We  learn  that  in  England  many  objections  and 
cavils  were  started,  and  many  false  reports 
circulated,  to  prejudice  the  nation  against  the 
alleged  attempt  to  convert  the  Indians  to  the 
Christian  faith.  Some  affirmed,  that,  after  all, 
there  was  in  reality  no  such  work  on  foot,  or 
that  at  the  best  it  amounted  to  nothing  more 
than  to  bring  some  half-dozen  of  the  natives  to 
profess  the  Gospel  by  motives  of  interest. 
Of  these  and  other  reproaches  notice  was  taken 
by  the  corporation  in  England,  with  an  indig- 
nant denial  of  their  truth.  Richard  Mather 
observes,  that  both  in  Old  and  New  England 
men  were  found,  who  declared  the  whole  plan 
to  be  only  a  device  for  getting  money,  and  the 
reported  conversion  of  the  Indians  to  be  a 
mere  fable.  Upon  this  calumny  he  remarks, 
that,  if  such  mercenary  motives  were  at  the 
bottom  of  the  affair,  he  wonders  that  the  magis- 
trates and  elders  should  have  advised  the 
delay  of  the  Indian  church  at  Natick,  and  not 
rather  have  hastened  the  business  with  all 
speed,  regardless  of  any  principles,  since  the 
report  of  an  organized  church  among  the  na- 
tives would  have  done  more  to  win  money  from 
pious  Christians,  than  any  thing  else. 

The  truth  is,  doubtless,  that  the  accusations 
proceeded  from  those  enemies  to  the  colonies, 
who  labored  in  various  modes  to  prejudice  the 
mother  country  against  the  rising  settlements 


JOHN     ELIOT.  207 

in  the  western  world.  I  do  not  find  that  any- 
definite  facts,  or  specific  charges,  were  alleged. 
The  objections  seem  to  have  consisted  of  those 
general  and  random  assertions,  which  are  easi- 
ly made,  but  have  little  weight  in  the  mind  of 
an  impartial  inquirer. 

Soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  Indian 
town  at  Natick,  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts again  legislated  for  the  protection  and 
improvement  of  the  Christian  natives.  The 
system  of  judicature  instituted  at  Nonantum 
appears  now  to  have  been  renewed  and  en- 
larged. It  was  enacted,  that  one  of  the  magis- 
trates of  the  colony,  acting  in  conjunction 
with  the  Indian  rulers,  should  hold  a  higher 
court,  the  powers  of  which  should  be  of  the 
same  latitude  as  those  of  a  county  court  among 
the  English.  The  laws  passed  for  the  regula- 
tion of  affiirs  among  the  Indians  were  to  be 
made  known  to  them  once  a  year.  These  laws 
related  chiefly  t&  the  security  of  the  property 
of  the  Indians,  and  to  the  various  ways  in 
which  the  objects  of  education,  morals,  and 
religion  might  be  promoted. 

The  first  magistrate,  who  was  appointed  to 
the  abovenamed  jurisdiction,  was  Daniel  Gook- 
in,  a  gentleman  distinguished  for  piety  and 
intelligence,  and  whose  name  is  honorably  con- 
nected with  many  important  transactions  in 
Indian  history  by  his  valuable  writings,  as  well 


208  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

as  by  his  wise  and  kind  conduct.*  He  was 
the  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Eliot,  who  found 
him  a  very  valuable  associate  and  counsellor  in 
his  labors.  Mr.  Gookin  received  this  appoint- 
ment in  1656.  Not  long  after  this,  he  was  ab- 
sent on  a  visit  to  England  two  or  three  years. 
During  that  interval  the  Indian  affairs  were 
administered  by  Major  Humphrey  Atherton. 
Gookin  was  reappointed  to  that  agency  in 
1661,  after  the  death  of  Atherton,  and  uni- 
formly sustained  the  character  of  a  faithful, 
benevolent,  and  judicious  magistrate,  respected 
and  beloved  by  the  Indians.  One  part  of  his 
care  was  to  provide  for  public  worship  and  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath,  and  for  schools 
and  other  means  of  improvement,  among  the 
natives. 

The  Indian  rulers  and  teachers  received  a 
small  stipend  by  tithes  from  their  people,  who, 
when  they  gathered  or  threshed  their  grain, 
set  apart  a  tenth  for  this  purpose,  which  was 
carried  to  some  general  depository  in  the  town. 
This  practice  of  paying  tithes  was  introduced, 

*  A  short  account  and  candid  estimate  of  Gookin  may- 
be found  in  1  M.  H.  Coll.,  I.  228-230,  written  by  the  late 
venerable  Dr.  Freeman,  one  of  whose  numerous  claims  on 
the  grateful  respect  of  the  community  is  the  discriminating- 
interest  he  took  in  the  early  history  of  New  England.  The 
Biographical  Dictionaries  of  Eliot  and  Allen  may  also  be 
consulted  for  information  about  Gookin. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  209 

says  Gookin,  on  the  recommendation  of  "good 
Mr.  Eliot,  who  first  led  them  into  this  way,  not 
without  good  reason."  Gookin,  apprehending 
that  it  might  "  be  censured  by  some,  as  savor- 
ing too  much  of  Judaism  and  anti-christianism," 
enters  into  a  defence  of  the  practice.*  Proba- 
bly it  was  the  only  convenient  or  feasible  mode 
by  which  those  natives,  who  were  engaged  in 
managing  the  education  and  civil  affairs  of  their 
people,  could  be  compensated  for  their  time. 
Mr.  Gookin  received  no  pay  from  them  for  his 
services.  After  he  had  labored  gratuitously 
for  several  years,  the  corporation  in  England 
granted  him  fifteen,  or  sometimes  twenty- 
pounds  per  annum.     He  died  poor. 

*  1  M.  H.  Coll.,  1. 178. 

vol.  v.  14  T  2 


210  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER   XII. 

Eliofs  iC  Christian  Commonwealth."  —  His  Trans- 
lation of  the  Scriptures  into  the  Indian  Lan- 
guage. —  Second  Edition  of  the  Translation, 
—  Remarks  on  the  Work. 

To  the  year  1660  belongs  the  notice  of  a 
book,  of  which  we  know  little,  but  by  which 
Mr.  Eliot  drew  upon  himself  a  public  censure. 
It  was  entitled,  "  The  Christian  Common- 
wealth." We  gather  from  Eliot's  statement, 
that  it  was  written  by  him  nine  or  ten  years 
before  this  time,  and  that  the  manuscript,  being 
sent  to  England,  was  there  published,  whether 
by  his  direction  or  consent  we  cannot  certainly 
ascertain. 

How  long  the  book  had  been  received  in 
New  England  before  it  was  condemned,  we  are 
not  informed.  But  on  the  18th  of  March,  1660, 
the  Governor  and  Council  took  it  up,  and 
passed  upon  it  a  formal  judgment.  They  de- 
clared that  on  a  perusal  of  the  book  called 
The  Christian  Commonwealth,  they  found  it 
"  full  of  seditious  principles  and  notions  in  re- 
lation to  all  established  governments  in  the 
Christian  world,  especially  against  the  govern- 
ment   established    in    their    native    country " 


JOHN     ELIOT.  211 

They  were  prepared  to  inflict  censure  on  the 
author ;  but,  having  consulted  with  the  elders 
of  the  churches,  they  deferred  it  till  the  Gen- 
eral Court  should  meet,  that  Mr.  Eliot  might 
have  time  to  consider  the  matter,  and  retract 
the  offensive  publication. 

In  May,  when  the  Court  met,  Mr.  Eliot  pre- 
sented a  paper  containing  a  recantation  given 
under  his  hand.  He  owned  himself  the  author 
of  the  book;  but  his  expressions  intimate,  that 
it  was  published  without  his  knowledge  or  con- 
sent. He  attempted  no  defence  of  it ;  and,  in 
order  to  make  public  satisfaction  for  its  errors, 
he  bore  his  testimony  against  all  those  expres- 
sions in  the  work,  which  treated  the  govern- 
ment of  England  by  King,  Lords,  and  Com- 
mons as  anti-christian,  and  which  justified  the 
proceedings  of  "  the  late  innovators."  The 
restored  government  of  England  he  acknowl- 
edged to  be  "  not  only  a  lawful,  but  eminent 
form  of  government."  He  then  declared  his 
readiness  to  subject  himself,  for  conscience' 
sake,  to  any  form  of  civil  polity,  which  could 
be  deduced  from  Scripture,  as  being  of  God, 
and  abjured  every  thing  in  the  book  inconsist- 
ent with  this  declaration. 

The  retraction  was  ample  enough  to  satisfy 
the  Court.  They  took  measures  to  suppress 
the  book,  and  ordered    Mr.   Eliot's   acknowl- 


212  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

edgment  to  be  posted  in  the  public  places  of 
all  the  chief  towns  in  the  colony. 

Such  are  the  facts  in  the  case,  as  stated  by 
Hutchinson,  who  adds  the  sarcastic  remark, 
that,  "when  times  change,  men  generally  suffer 
their  opinions  to  change  with  them,  so  far  at 
least  as  is  necessary  to  avoid  danger."  If 
this  transaction  be  judged  without  any  regard 
to  circumstances,  it  certainly  bears  no  favor- 
able testimony  to  Eliot's  firmness  or  consist- 
ency. It  seems  the  conduct  of  a  man,  who  has 
the  weakness  to  renounce  declared  opinions 
for  the  sake  of  escaping  present  peril.  But 
candor  requires  us  at  least  to  remember,  that 
this  occurred  at  a  peculiar  crisis  in  the  political 
condition  of  the  colony.  The  restoration  of 
Charles  had  just  taken  place,  and  been  an- 
nounced in  New  England.  The  enemies  of 
the  colony  were  already  busy.  Complaints  had 
been  made  against  Massachusetts  to  the  King 
in  council  and  to  the  Parliament  by  Mason, 
Gorges,  and  others.  During  the  preceding 
subversion  of  the  monarchy  and  church,  the 
sympathies  of  the  New  England  Puritans  had 
of  course  been  on  the  side  of  the  Republicans. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  magistrates 
of  Massachusetts  might  well  be  apprehensive 
of  unfavorable  suspicions  on  the  part  of  the 
English  government.  They  would  naturally 
watch  with  anxious  care  against  every  move- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  213 

ment,  that  might  swell  the  obloquy  already  so 
perilous.  They  had  presented  an  address  to 
the  King,  and  another  to  the  Parliament,  full 
of  loyalty  and  allegiance. 

At  this  juncture  of  affairs  Mr.  Eliot's  book 
arrested  their  attention.  To  permit  such  a 
work  to  pass  unnoticed  and  unreproved  might 
be  represented  to  their  disadvantage,  as  imply- 
ing a  disposition  to  sanction  the  sentiments  it 
defended.  To  pronounce  upon  it  a  sentence 
of  condemnation  might,  when  reported  in  Eng- 
land, tend  to  allay  unfavorable  suspicions,  and 
to  defend  them  against  the  injurious  charges 
urged  by  their  enemies.  It  is  probable,  there- 
fore, that,  as  a  matter  of  state  policy  and  from 
a  regard  to  the  present  public  good,  the  magis- 
trates of  Massachusetts  required  Eliot  to  re- 
tract the  opinions  given  in  his  book.  Had  it 
been  received  in  New  England  during  the  as- 
cendency of  the  Republicans,  it  would  probably 
have  incurred  no  censure. 

The  same  motive  may  have  been  considered 
by  Mr.  Eliot  sufficiently  imperious  to  require 
of  him  a  compliance  with  the  demand  of  the 
magistrates.  The  safety  of  the  state,  which,  in 
a  crisis  of  danger,  is  deemed  the  supreme  law, 
might  induce  him  to  recant  offensive  opinions 
with  a  facility,  which  seems  like  timidity,  and 
certainly  was  a  weakness.  If  his  brethren  in 
the  ministry   urged  him  to  make   the  desired 


214  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

acknowledgment,  he  would  not  be  likely  to 
treat  their  opinion  with  indifference.  Might 
he  not,  moreover,  be  biassed  by  the  apprehen- 
sion, that  his  political  sentiments,  if  left  un- 
explained, would  in  the  change  of  affairs  in 
England,  bring  odium  upon  his  beloved  wrork 
among  the  Indians  ? 

Considerations  like  these  afford  no  apology 
for  renouncing  opinions  sincerely  and  consci- 
entiously believed  to  be  true.  But  they  show, 
that,  in  a  regard  to  the  public  good,  which  was 
supposed  to  be  at  stake,  he  had  a  weighty 
reason  for  reconsidering  those  opinions.  It 
is  deeply  to  be  regretted  that  the  book  itself 
is    not    to    be    found.*      Without    it,    wre    can 


*  It  is  not  known  that  there  is  a  copy  in  America,  but 
I  find  The  Christian  Commonwealth,  in  a  catalogue  of 
books  relating-  to  America,  which  constitute  the  Collec- 
tion of  Colonel  Aspinwall,  Consul  of  the  United  States 
at  London ;  whose  indefatigable  zeal  and  efforts  for  many- 
years,  in  collecting  books  illustrative  of  American  his- 
tory, deserve  the  gratitude  of  his  countrymen.  On  this 
subject  his  library  is  by  far  the  most  copious  and  val- 
uable private  collection  in  existence.  It  will  be  a  serious 
misfortune,  should  not  this  library  be  ultimately  procured 
and  deposited  in  some  public  institution  in  the  United 
States. 

Nor  ought  we  here  to  forget,  or  pass  over,  the  labors  of 
Mr.  Rich  in  a  similar  walk.  His  Bibliotheca  Ameri- 
cana Nova,  or  Catalogue  of  Books  in  various  Languages, 
relating  to  America,  from  the  year  1700  to  1800,  recently 
printed  in  London,  and  forming  a  beautiful  volume  of  more 


JGHN     ELIOT.  215 

scarcely  form  a  fair  estimate  of  Mr.  Eliot's 
conduct  in  this  affair.  A  copy  of  The  Christian 
Commonwealth,  could  we  obtain  it,  would  en- 
able us  to  judge  whether  it  deserved  the  sen- 
tence passed  upon  it,  and  would  probably  give 
us  a  better  insight,  than  we  now  have,  into 
Eliot's  political  views.  If  it  was  indeed  "  full 
of  seditious  principles,"  he  did  well  to  retract 
it.  But  we  may  reasonably  doubt,  whether  the 
book  deserved  the  sweeping  censure  passed 
upon  it.  It  may  have  been  written  with  warmth, 
and  in  a  spirit  of  extravagance  ;  for  Eliot  not 
only,  as  we  may  suppose,  adopted  the  distin- 
guishing political  principles  of  the  Puritans, 
but,  as  we  have  seen  on  another  occasion,  had 
certain  visionary  notions  about  a  form  of  gov- 
ernment to  be  derived  from  Scriptural  authori- 
ty, before  which  all  human  institutions  must 
fall  to  the  dust.  Upon  cooler  reflection,  he 
doubtless  found  some,  perhaps  many,  of  his 
positions  untenable.  But  the  man,  who  had 
recently  flattered  Cromwell  and  his  adherents 
in  no  stinted  terms  for  "  endeavoring  to  put 
government  into  the  hands  of  the  saints," 
should  not  have  allowed  himself,  in  a  change 
of  power,  to   designate    them   contemptuously 

than  four  hundred  pages,  is  a  curious  and  important  con- 
tribution to  American  literature,  and  the  most  interesting 
bibliographical  work  that  has  ever  appeared  in  relation  to 
America, 


216  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

as  "  the  late  innovators."  The  Christian  Com- 
monwealth was  printed  in  London  without  date. 

Mr.  Eliot  continued  to  visit  the  Christian 
stations  among  the  natives  with  unabated 
industry.  At  Natick,  Concord,  Neponset,  the 
region  of  Merrimac  River,  and  other  places,  he 
devoted  himself  to  the  oversight  and  instruc- 
tion of  the  "  praying  Indians,"  and  to  the  fur- 
ther diffusion  of  the  word  of  life  where  it  had 
not  been  received.* 

The  course  of  this  narrative  has  brought  us 
to  that  period  of  Eliot's  life,  when  he  accom- 
plished a  task,  which,  as  a  monument  of  pious 
zeal  and  indefatigable  industry,  has  always 
been  regarded  with  admiration.  I  refer  to  his 
translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  the  Indian 
language. 

On  this  work  he  had  long  set  his  heart  with 
earnest  desire,  believing,  that,  until  God's  truth 
could  reach  his  Indian  disciples  in  the  written 
as  well  as  spoken  word,  the  means  of  making 
its  power  permanent  and  complete  would  be 
wanting.  If  the  schools,  which  in  his  plan 
were  to  be  the  never-failing  attendants  of 
Christian  instruction,   should  effect  their  pur- 


*  Hutchinson  mentions  the  notice,  which  Colonel  Goffe, 
the  regicide  judge,  took  of  the  questions  at  an  Indian  lec- 
ture, which  he  attended  in  1660.  —  History  of  Massachu- 
setts, Vol.  I.  p.  152. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  217 

pose  among  his  converts  and  their  children ; 
and  if  he  could  then  place  the  Bible,  in  their 
own  tongue,  under  their  eyes  in  every  wigwam 
or  house,  he  might  justly  feel  that  a  strong 
foundation  would  be  laid  for  those  great  re- 
sults, which  were  embraced  in  the  anticipations 
of  his  far-reaching  benevolence.  He  had  as 
yet  been  able  to  communicate  to  his  hearers  in 
the  wilderness  only  fragments  and  insulated 
portions  of  the  Scriptures,  by  translating  for 
immediate  use  such  passages  or  chapters,  as 
were  required  by  the  discourse,  exposition,  or 
conversation  at  the  time. 

In  this  way  the  Indians  had,  indeed,  acquired 
a  very  considerable  acquaintance  with  many 
important  parts  of  the  Bible.  Their  questions, 
their  confessions,  and  their  examinations  evince 
a  better  knowledge  of  the  main  points  of  Scrip- 
tural instruction,  than  one  would  expect  under 
such  unfavorable  circumstances.  Their  teacher 
must  have  been  a  man  of  no  ordinary  sagacity 
and  zeal,  to  have  been  able,  under  so  many 
difficulties,  to  make  them  comprehend  and  re- 
member so  much  of  the  Bible. 

But  the  best,  that  could  be  effected  by  such 
means,  was  necessarily  defective  and  slow. 
It  was  of  great  importance  that  the  Scriptures 
in  a  body  should  be  by  their  side  as  a  per- 
petual though  silent  instructer  ;  that  they 
should  have  the  inspiration  of  Heaven  in  words 

U 


218  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

familiar  to  their  ears,  to  which  they  and   their 
apostle  might  always  appeal. 

From  the  commencement  of  his  Indian  la- 
bors, Eliot  had  evidently  kept  this  great  ob- 
ject in  view.  He  had  been  intent  upon  obtain- 
ing the  best  assistance  he  could  command  in 
acquiring  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  lan- 
guage ;  and  his  perseverance,  under  every  dis- 
couragement, in  a  pursuit  so  unattractive,  is 
truly  wonderful.  In  a  letter  to  Winslow,  dated 
the  8th  of  July,  1649,  he  expressed  his  intense 
desire  "  to  translate  some  parts  of  the  Scrip- 
tures "  for  the  Indians.  He  considered  it  as 
an  undertaking  demanding  the  most  scrupu- 
lous and  conscientious  care.  "  I  look  at  it," 
he  said,  "  as  a  sacred  and  holy  work,  to  be 
regarded  with  much  fear,  care,  and  reverence." 
His  duties  in  the  ministry  among  his  own  flock 
had  prevented  his  bestowing  on  the  language 
all  the  thorough  and  constant  attention  he 
could  have  wished.  It  would  be  necessary, 
therefore,  he  thought,  to  have  assistants,  In- 
dians and  others,  continually  at  hand  to  exam- 
ine and  put  to  the  test  his  translations.  These 
must  be  paid.  Other  expenses  also  must  be 
incurred.  He  could  not  undertake  the  work 
with  his  own  means,  which  were  slender.  He 
had  a  numerous  family  to  be  educated  ;  and 
his  labors  among  the  natives  at  that  time  were 
gratuitous.     His  only  regular  source  of  main- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  219 

tenance  was  his  salary  at  Roxbury ;  and  he 
could  not  give  up  his  ministry  there  to  devote 
himself  exclusively  to  the  business  of  translat- 
ing and  preaching  for  the  Indians. 

Thus  the  work,  which  he  had  so  much  at 
heart,  was  retarded,  as  he  said,  only  by  "  want 
of  money."  In  1651  he  mentioned,  in  a  letter 
sent  to  England,  the  improvement  he  had  been 
gratified  to  find  in  the  ability  of  the  Indian, 
who  was  assisting  him  in  his  version  of  the 
Scriptures  ;  but  soon  after  he  said  in  a  tone 
of  despondence,  "I  have  no  hope  to  see  the 
Bible  translated,  much  less  printed,  in  my 
days."  *  We  may  infer  that,  for  several  years, 
the  project  of  the  Indian  translation  was  float- 
ing in  his  mind,  without  any  distinct  expec- 
tation of  seeing  it  realized.  Meanwhile  he 
labored  at  the  task  from  time  to  time,  trusting 
that  the  providence  of  God  would  at  length 
send  the  aid  necessary  to  bring  it  to  the  de- 
sired result. 

Nor  was  his  trust  in  vain.  When  the  funds 
of  the  corporation  in  England  became  availa- 
ble, here  was  an  object,  which  was  at  once 
seen  to  be  the  most  important,  to  which  assist- 
ance could  be  appropriated.  Their  patronage 
removed  the  only  hindrance ;  and  at  their  ex- 
pense the  New  Testament  in  the  Indian  lan- 

*  Further  Progresse  of  the  Gospel,  &c.  p.  7. 


220  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

guage  was  published  in  September,  1661,  soon 
after  the  restoration  of  Charles  the  Second.* 

It  happened  that  the  printing  was  com- 
pleted, while  the  question  concerning  the  con- 
firmation of  the  Society's  charter  in  England 
was  pending.  The  friends  of  the  Society- 
thought  this  a  favorable  opportunity  to  con- 
ciliate the  good  will  of  the  King.  The  Com- 
missioners of  the  United  Colonies  accordingly 
prefixed  to  the  Testament  a  Dedication  to  his 
Majesty,  written  without  adulation,  but  in  a 
tone  adapted  to  win  the  favorable  notice  of 
the  sovereign.  It  was  believed  to  have  had 
some  influence  in  deciding  his  mind  for  the 
confirmation  of  the  charter.  But  we  may  be 
permitted  to  suspect,  that  a  monarch  like 
Charles  was  scarcely  so  much  moved  by  a 
pious  dedication,  as  by  the  powerful  agency 
of  Clarendon,  to  whose  decision  he  was  doubt- 

*  It  has  two  title-pages,  one  in  English,  the  other  in 
Indian.  The  first  is,  "The  New  Testament  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  Translated  into  the  Indian  Lan- 
guage, and  ordered  to  be  printed  by  the  Commissioners  of 
the  United  Colonies  in  New  England.  At  the  Charge  and 
with  the  Consent  of  the  Corporation  in  England  for  the  Pro- 
pagation of  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians  in  New  England. 
Cambridge.  Printed  by  Samuel  Green  and  Marmaduke 
Johnson,  mdclxi."  The  other  is,  "  Wusku  Wuitestamentum 
JVul-Lordumun  Jesus  Christ  Nuppoquohwussuaeneumun." 
There  is  a  copy  of  this  New  Testament  in  the  library  of 
Harvard  College.  It  has  the  Address  or  Dedication  to  the 
King,  which  was  not  inserted  in  all  the  copies. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  221 

less  glad  to  leave  the  troublesome  question. 
Twenty  copies  of  the  Testament  were  sent  to 
England,  each  of  which  contained  the  dedi- 
cation ;  one  for  the  King,  the  rest  for  other 
distinguished  persons.*  In  the  Dedication  the 
Commissioners  say  to  the  King,  "  The  Old 
Testament  is  now  under  the  press,  wanting 
and  craving  your  royal  favor  and  assistance 
for  the  perfecting  thereof." 

In  1663  the  Old  Testament,  thus  promised, 
was  published,  after  having  been  three  years 
in  the  press.  Copies  of  the  New  Testament, 
already  printed,  were  bound  with  it ;  and  thus 
was  furnished  a  complete  Bible  in  the  Indian 
language.f  To  this  Bible  were  added  a  Cate- 
chism, and  the  Psalms  of  David  in  Indian  verse, 
which  were  a  translation  of  the  New  England 
version  of  the  Psalms  prepared  for  the  churches 
some  years  before,  as  has  been  mentioned,  by 

*  In  a  letter  of  the  Commissioners  accompanying  the 
copies  sent  to  England,  they  request,  "  that,  two  of  the 
special  being  very  well  bound  up,  the  one  may  be  present- 
ed to  his  Majesty  in  the  first  place,  the  other  to  the  Lord 
Chancellor  ;  and  that  five  more  may  be  presented  to 
Dr.  Reynolds,  Mr.  Carrill,  Mr.  Baxter,  and  the  two  vice- 
chancellors  of  the  Universities,  who  we  understand  have 
greatly  encouraged  the  work ;  the  rest  to  be  disposed  of 
as  you  shall  see  cause." 

f  According  to  Thomas  (History  of  Printing,  Vol.  I. 
p.  255)  it  had  two  title-pages,  the  one  English  and  the 
other  Indian.  The  copy  of  this  edition  in  Harvard  College 
library  has  only  an  Indian  title-page. 

U2 


222  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Eliot  and  others.  The  natives  were  much 
pleased  with  singing ;  to  gratify  and  improve 
their  taste,  these  Psalms  in  metre  were  affixed 
to  the  sacred  books. 

The  Commissioners,  in  a  letter  to  Robert 
Boyle,  dated  September  10th,  1662,  speak  of 
the  Bible  as  "  about  half  done."  This  letter 
was  accompanied  by  an  account  rendered  to 
the  corporation  of  the  disbursements  of  the 
moneys  received  from  them.  One  item  is,  "  To 
sundry  disbursements  for  printing  the  Bible, 
two  hundred  and  thirty-seven  pounds  five  shil- 
lings." The  Commissioners  say,  that  the  fur- 
ther requisite  expense  would  be  uncertain,  but 
could  not  be  estimated  at  less  than  two  hun- 
dred pounds.  I  know  not  that  we  have  any 
means  of  ascertaining  what  was  the  whole  cost 
of  this  first  edition. 

When  the  Indian  Bible  was  thus  completed, 
a  copy  in  elegant  binding  was  sent  to  Charles 
the  Second.  "  Such  a  work  and  fruit  of  a  plan- 
tation," observes  Baxter,  "  as  was  never  before 
presented  to  a  king."  *  Another  Dedication  to 
the  monarch,  in  addition  to  that  of  the  New 
Testament,  was  prepared  by  the  Commission- 
ers ;  and  both  the  dedications  were  inserted  in 
the  presentation  copies  sent  to  England,  but 
in  very  few  of  those  circulated  in  the  colonies. 
The  additional  Dedication,  as  prefixed  to  the 

*  Reliquiae  Baxterianae,  &c,  p.  290. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  223 

whole  Bible,  is  consequently  very  rare  in  this 
country.  Indeed  a  Bible  containing*  it  is  scarce- 
ly to  be  found.  But  a  copy  of  it  was  fortunate- 
ly rescued  from  destruction  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Harris  of  Dorchester.  He  discovered  in  a  bar- 
ber's shop  Eliot's  Indian  Bible  of  the  first  edi- 
tion, in  a  mutilated  state,  which  was  in  the 
process  of  being  used  for  waste  paper.  It  was 
found  to  contain  both  the  dedications  to  the 
King  •  and  Dr.  Harris  seized  upon  it  with  all 
the  interest  belonging  to  the  discovery  of  a 
long-lost  treasure.  He  transcribed  the  ad- 
dresses, and  published  them  in  the  Collections 
of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society.*  One 
of  these  valuable  antiquarian  relics  thus  incur- 
red the  risk  of  meeting  a  fate  as  disastrous 
as  that,  which  the  manuscripts  of  Cardinal 
Ximenes's  Polyglot  experienced  at  the  hands 
of  the  rocket-maker  of  Alcala  ;  but  both  are 
now  preserved  beyond  the  reach  of  danger. 

The  second  Address,  or  Dedication  to  his 
Majesty,  is  an  interesting  document.  It  is  writ- 
ten with  ability  and  with  graceful  propriety. 
The  Commissioners  present  their  thanks  to  the 
King  for  his  royal  favor  in  renewing  the  char- 
ter of  the  corporation,  and  thus  defeating  the 
attempts  of  its  enemies.  They  assure  his 
Majesty  that  though  New  England  has  not, 
like   the   Spanish   colonies    of   South   America, 

*  1st  Series,  Vol.  VII.  p.  222. 


224  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

gold  and  silver,  with  which  to  enrich  the 
mother  country,  yet  they  rejoice  to  send  tc 
the  land  of  their  fathers  the  Bible  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  natives,  among  whom  the  Gospel 
had  been  planted  and  propagated,  believing 
this  to  be  "  as  much  better  than  gold,  as  the 
souls  of  men  are  worth  more  than  the  whole 
world." 

One  cannot  but  contrast  with  this  the  dif- 
ferent estimate,  which  the  voluptuous  and 
profligate  monarch  would  be  likely  to  make. 
If  the  address  found  its  way  to  the  King,  and 
he  paused  from  his  career  of  sensuality  long 
enough  to  read  it,  we  can  almost  imagine  that 
we  see  the  sneering  look  and  hear  the  merry 
jests  it  would  call  forth,  as  he  sat  surrounded 
by  courtiers,  who  gained  his  favor  in  proportion 
as  they  relieved  him  from  the  cares  of  state, 
and  ministered  to  his  corrupt  pleasures.  The 
pious  exultation,  with  which  the  poor  colonists 
in  the  wilderness  presented  this  laborious  re- 
sult of  their  Christian  zeal,  could  hardly  have 
been  addressed  to  one  less  likely  to  appreciate 
its  meaning  or  value.  The  mere  act  of  legal 
'ustice,  which  Charles  permitted,  by  reestab- 
.ishing  the  rights  of  the  Society  for  Propagat- 
ng  the  Gospel,  seems  to  have  been  the  whole 
amount  of  aid,  which  he  bestowed  upon  Eliot 
and  his  fellow-laborers,  in  any  part  of  their 
enterprise. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  225 

Thus  was  the  apostle's  toil  at  last  crowned 
with  a  result,  which  must  have  gladdened  the 
good  man's  heart.  The  Indians  had  now  the 
whole  Bible  in  their  own  language ;  and  when 
he  visited  their  abodes  he  could,  with  such  joy 
as  none  but  the  Christian  knows,  hold  it  forth, 
and  say,  "  This  word  of  life  is  now  your  own." 

I  do  not  know,  that  it  can  be  ascertained 
precisely  of  what  number  of  copies  this  edition 
of  the  Bible  consisted.  Different  statements 
are  made.*  But  the  corporation  observe,  in  a 
letter  to  the  Commissioners,  while  the  New 
Testament  was  in  the  press,  that  in  their  judg- 
ment "  it  is  better  to  print  fifteen  hundred, 
than  but  a  thousand,  hoping  that  by  encourage- 
ment from  Sion  College,  with  whom  we  have 
late  conference,  you  may  be  enabled  to  print 
fifteen  hundred  of  the  Old  Testament  like- 
wise." f  It  is  fair  to  presume,  that  the  judg- 
ment of  the  corporation,  who  defrayed  the  ex- 
pense of  the  work,  would  be  followed  on  this 
subject,  and  that  consequently  the  edition  con- 
sisted of  the  number  stated  in  their  letter 
Two  hundred  copies  of  the  New  Testament 
were  bound  strongly  in  leather  for  the  imme- 
diate use  of  the  Indians. 

*  Mr.  Moore  (Memoirs  of  Eliot,  p.  83)  says,  "two  thou- 
sand." Mr.  Thomas  (History  of  Printing,  Vol.  I.  p.  245) 
mentions  "one  thousand"  as  the  number. 

|  Thomas's  History  of  Printing,  Vol.  I.  p.  242. 

VOL.    V.  15 


226  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Of  the  printers  of  this  edition  of  the  Indian 
Bible,  Samuel  Green  and  Marmaduke  Johnson, 
the  former  had  for  several  years  superintended 
a  press.  The  latter  was  sent  over  from  Eng- 
land by  the  corporation,  in  1660,  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  assisting  in  the  enterprise  of 
printing  the  Indian  Bible.  Johnson  seems  to 
have  been  anxious  to  secure  his  share  of  honor 
in  publishing  such  a  work  ;  for,  "  at  his  earnest 
request  and  for  his  encouragement,"  the  corpo- 
ration desired,  that  his  name  might  appear  as 
one  of  the  printers  on  the  title-page. 

They  also  sent  from  England  a  press  and 
types,  and  furnished  all  the  materials  neces- 
sary for  the  printing.  Johnson  was  a  good 
workman,  but  behaved  ill  and  exposed  himself 
to  much  censure.  He  was  loose  in  his  conduct, 
and  so  idle  that  he  absented  himself  from  the 
labors  of  the  press  more  than  six  months  at 
one  time.  His  unfaithfulness  retarded  the 
work,  which  at  best  could  proceed  but  slowly ; 
and  he  was  dismissed  as  soon  as  the  time  of 
his  engagement  had  expired. 

This  Indian  version  of  the  Scriptures  was 
the  first  Bible  ever  printed  on  the  continent  of 
America.  It  was  not  till  about  the  middle  of 
the  next  century,  that  the  Scriptures  in  the 
English  language  were  printed  in  this  country. 
This  was  done  as  privately  as  possible.  The 
book  bore  on  its  title-page  the  London  imprint, 


JOHN     ELIOT.  227 

and  the  name  of  the  King's  printer.  This  de- 
ception was  practised  to  escape  prosecution 
from  those  in  England  who  had  the  exclusive 
right  of  publishing  the  Bible,  either  by  a  pa- 
tent from  the  King,  or  cum  privilegio,  as  was 
the  case  with  the  Universities. 

Cotton  Mather,  who  commonly  has  something 
marvellous  to  tell,  affirms,  that  Mr.  Eliot  wrote 
uhis  whole  translation  with  but  one  pen." 
Mather  is  sometimes  so  loose  in  his  state- 
ments, that  one  scarcely  knows  how  much  they 
mean.  In  this  instance,  however,  his  story 
seems  more  precise  than  credible.  If  he  meant 
the  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
was  published  first,  the  anecdote  may  be  cred- 
ited, though  this  would  be  a  great  task  for 
one  pen  to  perform.  But  it  is  hard  to  be- 
lieve the  statement,  if  applied  to  the  whole 
Bible.  In  either  case,  "  we  may  presume,"  as 
has  been  remarked,  if  the  story  be  true,  u  that 
the  pen  was  not  made  of  goose-quill,  but  of 
metal."  It  has  been  reported  of  Gibbon,  that  he 
wrote  the  twelve  volumes  of  the  "  Decline  and 
Fall "  with  one  pen,  which  he  afterwards  gave  to 
the  Duchess  of  Devonshire,  who  enshrined  it 
in  a  silver  case.  Stories  of  this  sort  commonly 
originate  in  some  mistake,  or  some  mere  jest, 
and  float  about  in  rumor  for  a  while,  till  the 
disposition  to    attach   to    a   great   work   every 


228  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

possible  circumstance  of  a  surprising  nature 
receives  them  for  accredited  facts. 

The  first  impression  of  the  Indian  Bible  suf- 
ficed for  about  twenty  years.  In  1680  another 
edition  of  the  New  Testament  was  published. 
Mr.  Eliot,  in  a  letter  written  during  that  year 
to  the  Honorable  Mr.  Boyle,  alludes  to  it  when 
he  says,  "  We  are  at  the  nineteenth  chapter  of 
the  Acts  ;  and  when  we  have  impressed  the 
New  Testament,  our  Commissioners  approve 
of  my  preparing  and  impressing  the  Old."* 
In  addition  to  the  Psalms,  a  Catechism  was 
annexed,  as  in  the  first  impression.  This  New 
Testament  has  the  imprint  of  Cambridge,  but 
no  printer's  name. 

In  1685,  a  second  edition  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment appeared,  printed  at  Cambridge  by  Sam- 
uel Green.  This  was  bound  with  the  last  im- 
pression of  the  New  Testament ;  and  the  two 
parts,  thus  taken  together,  constitute  the  second 
edition  of  the  whole  Bible,  though  there  was 
an  interval  of  five  years  between  the  times 
at  which  the  two  Testaments  respectively 
appeared. f      Each    part    has    but    one     title 

*  Letter  III.,  in  1  M.  H.  Coll.,  III.  180. 

f  Mr.  Thomas  says,  (History  of  Printing,  Vol.  I.  p.  262, 
that  the  second  edition  "  was  six  years  in  the  press."  This 
assertion,  however,  supposes  that  the  printing  of  the  Old 
Testament  followed  that  of  the  New  continuously,  without 
any  delay,  which  was  probably  the  case,  though  we  are 
not  certain  of  it. 


JOHN     ELIOT  229 

page,   which   is   in    Indian,    and    the    same    as 
before.* 

We  learn  some  facts  respecting  this  second 
edition  of  the  Indian  version  from  Eliot's  cor- 
respondence with  Mr.  Boyle.  The  whole  im- 
pression was  two  thousand  copies.f  It  was 
superintended  by  Mr.  Eliot,  who  gave  a  part 
of  his  salary  towards  defraying  the  expense, 
and  received  for  the  same  purpose  from  the 
corporation  in  England,  through  Mr.  Boyle, 
nine  hundred  pounds  at  different  times,  namely, 
forty  pounds  at  one  time,  four  hundred  and 
sixty  at  another,  and  four  hundred  at  a  third. 
If  some  collateral  expenses  be  included,  the 
whole  cost  of  the  impression  must  have  been 
little,  if  any,  short  of  a  thousand  pounds.  Mr. 
Eliot's  remarks  lead  us  to  suppose,  that  the 
first  edition  was  nearly  or  quite  exhausted. 
If  so,  and  if  the  number  of  its  copies  was  what 
I  have  supposed,  this  fact  will  furnish  us  with  a 
measure  by  which  we  may  estimate  the  demand 
for  the  Scriptures  among  the  Indians  for  twenty 
years  after  the  translation  was  first  printed. 
We  may  presume,  that  the  number  of  copies, 
which  curiosity  might  lead  people  in  the  colony 

#  The  Indian  title  of  the  New  Testament  has  been  al- 
ready given.  That  of  the  whole  Bible  is  as  follows;  uMa- 
musse  Wunneetupanatamwe  Up-Biblum  God  Naneeswe 
Mukkone  Testament  kah  wonk  Wusku  Testament" 

\  Letter  VII. 

X 


230  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

to  purchase,  or  which  courtesy  might  send  to 
England,  could  not  be  large. 

Eliot  apologized  to  Mr.  Boyle  for  the  slow 
progress  of  the  printing,  by  alleging  the  want 
of  an  adequate  number  of  workmen,  and  the 
interruption  of  labor  among  those  whom  they 
had,  by  sickness,  which  prevailed  fatally  in  the 
winter  of  1683  and  the  spring  of  1684.  His 
heart  was  saddened  by  these  and  other  events, 
which  seemed  to  throw  discouragement  on  the 
work ;  for  he  was  then  bending  beneath  the 
weight  of  years,  and,  with  the  feelings  of  an 
old  and  faithful  servant,  his  soul  yearned  to 
witness,  as  his  last  labor,  the  completion  of  the 
new  edition  of  his  translation. 

The  affectionate  earnestness,  with  which  he 
dwells  on  the  subject  in  his  correspondence 
with  the  English  philosopher,  has  a  touching 
interest.  "  My  age,"  says  he,  "  makes  me  im- 
portunate. I  shall  depart  joyfully,  may  I  but 
leave  the  Bible  among  them  ;  for  it  is  the  word 
of  life."  Again  he  writes,  "  I  desire  to  see  it 
done  before  I  die,  and  I  am  so  deep  in  years, 
that  I  cannot  expect  to  live  long;  and  sundry 
say,  if  I  do  not  procure  it  printed  while  I  live, 
it  is  not  within  the  prospect  of  human  reason, 
whether  ever,  or  when,  or  how,  it  may  be  ac- 
complished." He  bore  it  on  his  heart  to  God 
in  his  devotions,  and  the  anxious  earnestness 
of  his    soul   seemed   to  be  fixed  on  this   point. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  231 

The  prayer  of  the  good  old  man  was  answered 
He  lived  to  see  a  new  impression  of  his  Bible  ; 
and  when  he  took  the  precious  volume  in  his 
hands,  we  can  easily  imagine,  that  with  up- 
lifted eyes  he  may  have  uttered  the  Nunc  dimit- 
tas  of  the  aged  Simeon. 

In  preparing  this  second  edition  Mr.  Eliot 
received  valuable  assistance  from  the  Reverend 
John  Cotton  of  Plymouth,  who  had  spent  much 
of  his  time  for  several  years  in  forming  a 
thorough  acquaintance  with  the  Indian  lan- 
guage. *  This  obligation  Eliot  acknowledged 
in  a  letter  to  Boyle  in  1688. f  Several  years 
before  that  time,  Boyle  had  intrusted  to  Eliot 
thirty  pounds  for  the  promotion  of  religion 
among  the  Indians.  The  money  had  not  been 
expended,  perhaps  because  no  opportunity 
had  occurred  for  the  particular  mode  of  using 
it  which  Boyle  designed.  Of  this  sum,  Eliot 
requested  that  ten  pounds  might  be  given  to 
Major  Gookin's  widow,  who  was  poor;  ten 
pounds  to  Gookin's  son,  who  lectured  among 
the  Indians  ;  and  ten  pounds  to  Mr.  John  Cot- 
ton, "  who,"  says  he,  "  helped  me  much  in  the 
second  edition  of  the   Bible."      Probably  Mr. 

*  He  had  a  son,  Josiah  Cotton,  who  compiled  a  "Voca- 
bulary of  the  Massachusetts  (or  Natick)  Indian  Language," 
which  was  published,  with  a  prefatory  notice,  by  Judge 
Davis,  in  3  M.  H.  Coll.,  II. 

f  Letter  IX. 


232  AMERICAN     B  I  0  Cx  R  A  P  II  Y  . 

Cotton  revised  the  whole  version  with  him, 
that  by  their  joint  labors  a  more  exact  and 
faithful  translation  might  be  exhibited  in  the 
new  impression.* 

One  of  the  Christian  natives  was  concerned 
in  the  process  of  publishing  the  Indian  Bible, 
who  deserves  to  be  specially  mentioned.  This 
was  James  the  printer,  or,  as  he  was  called  by 
applying  the  name  of  his  occupation  to  the  man, 
James  Printer.  He  was  born  at  Hassanamesitt 
(Grafton),  an  Indian  settlement,  where  his 
father  and  brothers  held  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
offices  among  their  brethren.  James  received 
so  much  instruction  at  the  Indian  charity 
school  in  Cambridge,  as  to  enable  him  to  read 
and  write  English  correctly.  He  then  served 
an  apprenticeship  with  Green,  the  printer,  in 
whose  office  he  assisted  as  a  pressman  in  work- 
ing off  the  first  edition  of  Eliot's  Bible. 

When  Philip's  war  broke  out,  the  smothered 
embers  of  national  feeling  were  rekindled  in 
his  breast.  He  absconded  from  his  employer, 
and  joined  the  forces  of  his  countrymen  against 
the  English.     Hubbard  f  and  Increase  Mather, J 

*  It  has  been  incorrectly  said  by  some  writers,  that  the 
second  edition  of  the  Indian  Bible  was  not  published  till 
after  the  death  of  the  translator,  and  that  it  was  then  re- 
vised and  corrected  by  Mr.  Cotton. 

f  Narrative  of  the  Troubles  with  the  Indians,  p.  9G. 

X  Brief  History  of  the  War  with  the  Indians  in  New 
England,  p.  39. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  233 

who  speak  of  him  with  severity  as  an  apostate, 
relate,  that  he  availed  himself  of  the  opportu- 
nity to  return  to  his  English  friends  afforded 
by  the  declaration  published  by  the  Council  at 
Boston  in  1676,  which  proclaimed,  that  all  In- 
dians who  should  come  in  within  fourteen  days 
might  hope  for  mercy.  James,  after  his  return, 
probably  lived  in  or  about  Boston  till  1680. 
He  was  then  employed  by  Green  at  Cambridge, 
on  the  second  edition  of  the  Indian  Bible. 

Mr.  Eliot  alludes  to  this  man  in  his  corre- 
spondence with  Boyle.  In  1682  he  says,  "We 
have  but  one  man,  the  Indian  printer,  that  is 
able  to  compose  the  sheets  and  correct  the 
press  with  understanding  ; "  and  in  1684  he 
remarks,  "  We  have  but  few  hands,  one  Eng- 
lishman, a  boy,  and  one  Indian."  As  late  as 
1709,  James's  name  appears  in  connexion  with 
that  of  Bartholomew  Green,  as  printer,  on  the 
title-page  of  the  Psalter  in  Indian  and  English. 
From  Mr.  Eliot's  notice  of  him,  we  are  led  to 
suppose,  that  he  must  have  been  an  efficient 
and  valuable  workman  in  printing  the  Indian 
version.  His  acquaintance  with  both  lan- 
guages would  of  course  enable  him  to  work 
with  the  more  rapidity  and  accuracy. 

Such  is  the  history  of  the  two  editions  of  the 
Indian  Bible,  which  issued  from  the  Cambridge 
press.  Mr.  Eliot  doubtless  looked  forward 
with  delightful  anticipations  to  the  time,  when 

X2 


234  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

the  multiplied  converts  to  Christianity  among 
the  natives  would  require  impression  after  im- 
pression of  the  volume,  on  which  he  had  spent 
so  much  exhausting  but  happy  toil.  One  of 
the  hopes,  we  may  suppose,  which  solaced  the 
evening  of  his  days  was,  that  ages  after  his 
grey  hairs  should  have  gone  down  to  the  grave, 
this  sacred  book  would  continue  to  be  read  in 
the  dwellings  and  heard  in  the  churches  of  the 
Indian  settlements,  far  and  wide,  through  New 
England. 

But  these  cheering  expectations  were  des- 
tined never  to  be  realized.  The  second  edi- 
tion of  his  Translation  of  the  Scriptures  was 
the  last.  The  printer  never  was,  and  never 
will  be,  again  called  to  set  his  types  for  those 
words,  so  strange  and  uncouth  to  our  ears.  A 
century  and  a  half  has  elapsed  since  the  last 
impression  of  the  volume  appeared  ;  and  it  is 
a  thought  full  of  melancholy  interest,  that  the 
people  for  whom  it  was  designed  may  be  con- 
sidered as  no  longer  on  the  roll  of  living  men, 
and  that  probably  not  an  individual  in  the  wide 
world  can  read  the  Indian  Bible.  It  is  a  re- 
markable fact,  that  the  language  of  a  version 
of  the  Scriptures  made  so  late  as  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century  should  now  be 
entirely  extinct. 

Of  the  correctness  and  fidelity  of  Mr.  Eliot's 
version  no  one  has  now  the   means  of  forming 


JOHN     ELIOT.  235 

an  exact  judgment.  It  would  seem,  indeed, 
from  the  circumstances  under  which  he  learned 
the  language,  that  his  knowledge  of  it  for  a 
considerable  time  must  have  been  limited  and 
imperfect.  Many  cases  would  occur,  in  which 
the  rude  teaching  of  the  natives  on  a  subject 
requiring  so  much  precision  would,  we  may 
suppose,  fail  to  satisfy  his  inquiries;  and  his 
own  patient  observation,  skilful  comparison, 
and  gradual  discovery  must  have  supplied,  as 
they  could,  the  deficiency  of  the  usual  helps  in 
learning  the  structure  and  power  of  a  new  or- 
gan of  thought. 

He  felt  for  some  time  the  embarrassment 
arising  from  a  defective  acquaintance  with  the 
language.  "My  brother  Eliot,"  said  Shepard 
in  1648,  "  professes  he  can  as  yet  but  stammer 
out  some  pieces  of  the  word  of  God  unto  them 
in  their  own  tongue  ;  "  and  Eliot  himself,  in  a 
letter  to  Winslow  in  1649,  remarked,  "  I  have 
yet  but  little  skill  in  their  language,  having 
little  leisure  to  attend  to  it  by  reason  of  my 
continual  attendance  on  my  ministry  in  our 
own  church."  But  this  was  said  fourteen  years 
before  the  first  edition  of  the  Indian  Bible  was 
published,  and  thirty-six  years  before  the  second 
was  completed.  During  that  time  his  mind  had 
been  industriously  engaged  on  the  language. 
By  preaching  and  conversation  his  knowledge 
of  its  construction,  and   skill  in  its  use,  must 


236  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

have  been   perpetually  enlarged  with  acceler- 
ated progress. 

When  his  version  of  the  Scriptures  appeared, 
he  was,  therefore,  undoubtedly  as  well  qualified 
for  the  work  as  any  man  could  hope  to  be.* 
The  Indians  could  not  have  profited  so  much 
as  they  evidently  did  by  his  instructions,  had 
he  not  been  able  to  use  their  language  with 
propriety  and  force  in  spoken  communications  ; 
and  there  is  no  good  reason  why  he  should 
have  been  less  successful  in  writing.  The 
greatest  difficulty  must   have   occurred  in  the 

*  Mr.  Eliot  would,  of  course,  often  be  obliged,  in  the 
process  of  his  translation,  to  apply  to  the  Indians  for  a  spe- 
cific term  to  designate  an  object,  the  name  of  which  in 
their  language  he  had  not  learned.  Tradition  has  reported 
a  curious  mistake,  incurred  in  this  way.  The  story  is,  that 
when  he  came  to  the  passage  in  the  book  of  Judges  (v.  28)r 
where  the  mother  of  Sisera  is  said  to  have  "  cried  through 
the  lattice,"  he  knew  no  Indian  word  which  signified  lattice. 
In  this  perplexity  he  applied  to  some  of  the  natives  for  a 
suitable  term.  They  had  never  seen  a  lattice ;  but  he  en- 
deavored by  description  to  make  them  understand  what  it 
was,  illustrating  it  by  wicker-work,  netting,  &c.  Upon  this 
they  soon  gave  him  a  word,  which  he  used ;  but  some  time 
after,  when  he  had  acquired  further  knowledge  of  the  lan- 
guage, he  was  surprised  and  amused  to  find,  that  the  word 
which  the  Indians  had  given  him  for  lattice,  signified  an 
eel-pot.  Such  is  the  anecdote.  That  a  mistake  like  this 
may  have  happened  in  his  inquiries  of  the  natives,  is  not 
improbable.  But  that  the  error  did  not  find  its  way  into 
the  printed  Translation,  I  think,  is  evident ;  for,  on  turning 
to  the  passage  in  the  Indian  Bible,  1  find  that  the  word,  by 


JOHN     ELIOT.  237 

endeavor  to  represent  the  purely  spiritual  parts 
of  the  Bible  in  words  used  by  men  unaccus- 
tomed to  spiritual  modes  of  thought.  But  the 
language  itself  is  believed  not  to  have  been  so 
barren  and  poor  in  this  respect,  as  one  would 
naturally  suppose  ;  and  perhaps  few  men  could 
have  been  better  prepared  to  meet  the  diffi- 
culty, than  Mr.  Eliot.  On  the  whole,  his  ver- 
sion, we  may  fairly  presume,  was  such  as  to 
give  the  Indians,  in  all  important  respects, 
about  as  correct  and  competent  a  knowledge  of 
the  Scriptures,  as  translations  are  generally 
found  to  give. 

The  Indian  Bible  has  become  one  of  those 
rare  books,  which  the  antiquarian  deems  it  a 
triumph   to   possess.*     The   copies    in   private 

which  lattice  is  translated,  is  latticeut,  a  term  which  un- 
doubtedly is  nothing  but  the  English  word  with  an  Indian 
termination  to  accommodate  it  to  the  structure  of  that  lan- 
guage. To  this  expedient  Mr.  Eliot  would  naturally  resort, 
when  he  found  no  Indian  word,  that  could  be  used  to  ex- 
press the  object.  Besides,  in  the  passage  in  question,  the 
same  word  is  used  in  both  editions  of  the  Translation.  Had 
the  mistake  described  in  the  story  been  committed  in  the 
first  edition,  Eliot  must  certainly  have  discovered  and  cor- 
rected it  during  the  many  years  which  passed  before  the 
second  appeared. 

*  Ebeling,  whose  books  form  so  valuable  an  addition  to 
the  library  of  Harvard  College,  wrote  in  his  copy  of  the 
Indian  Bible,  "Liber  summae  raritatis."  The  following 
descriptive  title-page  of  the  book,  also  written  by  Ebeling, 
may  be  not  without  interest  to  the  curious  ;  "  Biblia  Sacra, 


238  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

or  public  libraries  are  very  few.  It  has  acquired 
the  venerable  appearance  of  an  ancient  and 
sealed  book  ;  and,  when  we  turn  over  its  pages, 
those  long  and  harsh  words  seem  like  the  mys- 
terious hieroglyphics  in  some  time-hallowed 
temple  of  old  Egypt.  It  failed  to  answer  the 
pious  purpose,  for  which  the  translator  labored 
in  preparing  it.  But  it  has  answered  another 
purpose,  which  was  perhaps  never  in  his  mind, 
or,  if  it  were,  was  doubtless  regarded  as  an 
inferior  consideration.  In  connexion  with  his 
Indian  Grammar,  it  has  afforded  important  aid 
as  a  valuable  document,  in  the  study  of  com- 
parative philology.  Though  the  language,  in 
which  it  is  printed,  is  no  longer  read,  yet  this 
book  is  prized  as  one  of  the  means  of  gaining 
an  insight  into  the  structure  and  character  of 
"  unwritten  dialects  of  barbarous  nations,"  a 
subject  which,  of  late  years,  has  attracted  the 
attention  of  learned  men,  and  the  study  of 
which,  it  is  believed,  will  furnish  new  facts  to 
modify  the  hitherto  received  principles  of  uni- 
versal grammar. 

On  this  account  scholars  of  the  highest  name 
in  modern  times  have  had  reason  to  thank 
Eliot  for  labors,  which  the  Indians  are  not  left 


in  linguam  Indorum  Americans  gentis  t8»  Natick  trans- 
lata  a  Johanne  Eliot,  Missionario  Anglicano.  Impressa 
Cantabrigise,"  etc. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  239 

to  thank  him  for.  While  the  cause  of  religion 
missed,  in  a  great  degree,  the  benefit  designed 
for  it,  the  science  of  language  acknowledges 
a  contribution  to  its  stores.  Mr.  Eliot  trans- 
lated the  Bible  into  a  dialect  of  what  is  called 
the  Mohegan  tongue,  a  language  spoken  by  all 
the  New  England  Indians,  essentially  the  same, 
but  varied  by  different  dialects  among  the  sev- 
eral tribes.*  By  Eliot  and  others  it  was  called 
the  Massachusetts  language.! 

There  is,  besides,  a  moral  aspect,  in  which 
this  translation  of  the  Scriptures  should  be 
viewed.  It  must  be  regarded  as  a  monument 
of  laborious  piety,  of  painstaking  love  to  the 
soul  of  man.  Would  the  translator  have  had 
the  spirit  to  undertake,  still  more  the  persever- 
ance to   carry  through,  a   work   so  wearisome 

*  Edwards's  Observations  on  the  Language  of  the  Muh- 
hekaneew  Indians,  2  M.  H.  Coll.,  X.  86.  But  Heckewelder 
makes  the  Delaware,  or  the  Lenape,  the  common  stock  of 
these  dialects  ;  see  Transactions  of  the  Historical  and  Lit- 
erary Committee,  fyc,  p.  106. 

f  The  Indian  Bible  has  been  an  object  of  much  interest 
among  the  literary  collectors  of  Europe.  See  Bibliotheque 
Curieuse  Historique  et  Critique,  ou  Catalogue  raisonne  de 
Livres  difficiles  a  trouver,  par  David  Clement,  Tome  IV.  p. 
204.  It  is  there  registered  as  Bible  Virginienne.  Virginia 
was  once  a  common  designation  of  New  England.  Mr. 
Eliot,  and  his  labors  in  general,  are  mentioned  with  great 
honor  by  Hoornbeeck,  De  Conversione  Indorum  et  Genti- 
lium,  Lib.  II.  cap.  xv.,  and  by  Fabricius,  Lux  Evangelii, 
p.  589. 


240  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

and  discouraging,  had  he  not  been  animated 
"by  the  deep,  steady,  strong  principle  of  devot- 
edness  to  God  and  to  the  highest  good  of  his 
fellow-men  ?  The  theological  scholar,  who 
translates  the  Bible,  or  even  one  of  the  Testa- 
ments, from  the  original  into  his  vernacular 
tongue,  is  considered  as  having  achieved  a 
great  task,  and  as  giving  ample  proof  of  his 
diligence.  Yet  such  a  work  is  easy  compared 
with  the  labor  which  Eliot  undertook  and  fin- 
ished amidst  a  press  of  other  employments, 
which  alone  might  have  been  deemed  sufficient 
to  satisfy  the  demands  of  Christian  industry. 

Among  the  many  remarkable  doings  of  the 
Apostle  to  the  Indians,  this  bears  the  most 
striking  testimony  to  his  capacity  of  resolute 
endurance  in  the  cause  of  man's  spiritual  wel- 
fare. We  justly  admire  the  moral  courage,  the 
spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  which  sustained  him  in 
the  tasks  of  preaching,  visiting,  and  instruc- 
tion, never  deterred  by  the  dark  squalidness 
of  barbarity,  never  daunted  by  the  fierce 
threats  of  men  who  knew  no  law  but  their  pas- 
sions, never  moved  by  exposure  to  storms, 
cold,  and  the  various  forms  of  physical  suffer- 
ing. But,  when  we  represent  him  to  our  minds, 
as  laboring  at  his  translation  of  the  Scriptures 
in  the  silence  of  his  study,  year  after  year,  in 
the  freshness  of  the  morning  hour  and  by  the 


JOHN     ELIOT.  241 

taper  of  midnight,  wearied  but  not  disheart- 
ened ;  continually  perplexed  with  the  almost 
unmanageable  phraseology  of  the  dialect  of 
the  barbarians,  yet  always  patient  to  discover 
how  it  might  be  made  to  represent  truly  the 
meaning  of  the  sacred  books  ;  doing  this  chap- 
ter by  chapter,  verse  by  verse,  without  a  wish 
to  give  over  the  toil ;  cherishing  for  a  long  time 
only  a  faint  hope  of  publication,  yet  still  wil- 
ling to  believe,  that  God  in  his  good  provi- 
dence would  finally  send  the  means  of  giving 
the  printed  word  of  life  to  those  for  whom  he 
toiled  and  prayed,  —  we  cannot  but  feel  that 
we  witness  a  more  trying  task,  a  more  surpris- 
ing labor,  than  any  presented  by  the  stirring 
and  active  duties  of  his  ministry  among  the 
natives. 

It  was  a  long,  heavy,  hard  work,  wrought 
out  by  the  silent  but  wasting  efforts  of  mental 
toil,  and  relieved  by  no  immediately  animating 
excitement.  It  was  truly  a  labor  of  love. 
When  we  take  that  old  dark  volume  into  our 
hands,  we  understand  not  the  words  in  which 
it  is  written  ;  but  it  has  another  and  beautiful 
meaning  which  we  do  understand.  It  is  a 
symbol  of  the  affection,  which  a  devoted  man 
cherished  for  the  soul  of  his  fellow-man  ;  it  is 
the  expression  of  a  benevolence,  which  fainted 
in  no  effort  to  give  light  to  those  who  sat  in 

vol.  v.  16  Y 


242  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death ;  and  so 
it  remains,  and  will  ever  remain,  a  venerable 
manifestation  of  the  power  of  spiritual  truth 
and  spiritual  sympathy.* 

*  "Since  the  death  of  the  Apostle  Paul,"  says  Mr.  Ever- 
ett, "  a  nobler,  truer,  and  warmer  spirit,  than  John  Eliot, 
never  lived ;  and  taking  the  state  of  the  country,  the  nar- 
rowness of  the  means,  the  rudeness  of  the  age,  into  con- 
sideration, the  history  of  the  Christian  church  does  not 
contain  an  example  of  resolute,  untiring,  successful  labor, 
superior  to  that  of  translating  the  entire  Scriptures  into  the 
language  of  the  native  tribes  of  Massachusetts  ;  a  labor 
performed,  not  in  the  flush  of  youth,  nor  within  the  luxuri- 
ous abodes  of  academic  ease,  but  under  the  constant  bur- 
den of  his  duties  as  a  minister  and  a  preacher,  and  at  a 
time  of  life  when  the  spirits  begin  to  flag."  —  Everett's 
Address  at  Bloody  Brook,  p.  31. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  243 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Further  Translations  and  other  Books  for  the 
Christian  Indians  by  Mr.  Eliot.  —  His  Indian 
Grammar.  —  His  "  Communion  of  Churches ," 
fyc.  —  Indians  at  Harvard  University.  —  In- 
dian College. —  Towns  of  Praying  Indians. 

Mr.  Eliot  did  not  confine  his  labors  of  trans- 
lation to  the  Scriptures.  He  prepared  by  the 
same  process  other  books  for  the  use  of  his 
converts.  In  1664  he  published  in  the  Indian 
language  Baxter's  Call  to  the  Unconverted.  It 
was  a  small  octavo  of  one  hundred  and  thirty 
pages.  A  thousand  copies  were  printed  by 
Green  at  Cambridge.  Eliot  thought  this  work 
peculiarly  fitted  to  be  useful  among  the  natives 
by  "  the  keenness  of  its  edge  and  the  liveliness 
of  its  spirit."  In  his  correspondence  with 
Baxter  he  mentioned  his  intention  of  clothing 
this  book  in  an  Indian  dress.  The  letter  was 
written  in  July,  1663  ;  and  he  had  then  begun 
the  translation. 

He  allowed  himself  a  liberty  with  regard  to 
this  volume,  which  he  did  not  dare  to  take  with 
the  Scriptures.  When  the  phraseology  might, 
if  put  into  another  form,  be  better  and  more 
clearly  translated,  he   hesitated   not    to   make 


244  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

the  necessary  change;  and  those  parts  of  the 
book,  which  were  peculiarly  adapted  to  the 
condition  of  the  people  of  England  he  so 
altered  as  to  suit  them  to  the  wants  of  his 
Christian  Indians.  Of  the  liberties,  which  he 
had  thus  taken,  he  gave  Baxter  notice  ;  "but," 
he  added,  "  I  do  little  that  way,  knowing 
how  much  beneath  wisdom  it  is,  to  show  a 
man's  self  witty  in  mending  another  man's 
work."  In  the  same  letter  he  observed,  that 
he  intended  to  translate  for  the  Indians  The 
Practice  of  Piety,  or  some  similar  book,  which 
might  serve  as  a  manual  for  their  direction  in 
public  and  private  worship,  in  days  of  fasting 
and  feasting,  and  generally  in  Christian  life 
and  conduct.* 

More  than  twenty  years  elapsed  before  this 
last-mentioned  work  appeared.  In  1685  Mr 
Eliot  published  a  translation  of  The  Practice  oj 
Piety,  of  which  in  a  letter  to  Boyle,  written  i» 
August  of  that  year,  he  remarks,  "  It  is  finished 
and   beginneth   to   be   bound   up."f      A   third 

*  Reliquiae  Baxterianse,  &c,  p.  293.  Baxter  himself, 
having  mentioned  Eliot's  Bible  (p.  290),  proceeds  to  ob- 
serve, —  "  He  sent  word  that  next  he  would  print  my  Call 
to  the  Unconverted,  and  then  The  Practice  of  Piety ;  but 
Mr.  Boyle  sent  him  word,  it  would  be  better  taken  here, 
if  The  Practice  of  Piety  were  printed  before  any  thing  of 
mine."  Eliot  seems  not  to  have  followed  Mr.  Boyle's  ad- 
vice in  this  particular. 

f  A  copy  of  this  translation,  one  of  the  Ebeling  books,  is 


JOHN     ELIOT.  245 

edition,  we  are  told,  was  printed  by  Green  in 
1687.*  If  there  be  no  mistake  in  this  state- 
ment, there  must  have  been  such  a  demand  for 
the  book,  as  would  indicate,  that  it  shared  in 
its  Indian  form  much  of  the  popularity  of  its 
English  original.! 

In  1688  Mr.  Eliot  informed  Sir  Robert  Boyle, 
that,  many  years  before,  he  had  translated  into 
Indian  two  small  treatises  by  Mr.  Shepard, 
one  entitled  The  Sincere  Convert,  the  other, 
The  Sound  Believer.  These  translations  had 
not  been  published  ;  and  he  requested  his 
honored  correspondent  to  countenance  the 
project  of  printing  them  at  the  expense  of  the 
Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel.  He  ob- 
served that  they  must  be  carefully  revised,  be- 
fore they  could  be  committed  to  the  press. 
He   depended  on  the  assistance  of  his   friend, 

in  the  library  of  Harvard  College.  Its  Indian  title  is, 
"  Manitowompae  Pomantamoonk  sampiv shanau  Christianoh 
uttoh  woh  an  Pomantog  wussikkitteahonat   God." 

*  Thomas's  History  of  Printing,  Vol.  I.  p.  262. 

f  The  Practice  of  Piety  was  remarkable  for  the  exten- 
sive and  long-continued  popular  favor,  in  which  it  was 
held.  Perhaps  no  book  of  practical  religion,  except  The 
Imitation  of  Christ,  has  passed  through  so  many  editions. 
In  1792  it  was  in  its  seventy-first  edition.  The  author  of 
the  book  was  Lewis  Bayly,  at  one  time  chaplain  to  James 
the  First.  He  was  promoted  to  the  see  of  Bangor  in  1616, 
and  died  in  1632.  See  Biographia  Britan>'ica,  Art. 
Bayly,  and  Bishop  Kexnett's  Register  and  Chronicle, 
Ecclesiastical  and  Civil,  p.  530. 

Y2 


246  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Mr.  Cotton  of  Plymouth,  in  the  task  of  revisal, 
"  which,"  he  remarks,  "  none  but  Mr.  Cotton 
is  able  to  help  me  to  perform."  A  translation, 
in  a  duodecimo  volume  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty-four  pages,  was  printed  by  Green  at 
Cambridge  in  1689,  which  Mr  Thomas  says 
was  Shepard's  Sincere  Convert*  This  I  have 
never  seen ;  but  I  am  inclined  to  think,  that 
The  Sound  Believer  was  also  included  in  the 
volume.  At  any  rate,  as  Eliot  made  the  same 
request  of  Mr.  Boyle  with  regard  to  each  of 
the  works,  it  is  likely  that  they  were  both 
printed. 

Cotton  Mather  tells  us,  that  Mr.  Eliot 
"  translated  some  of  Mr.  Shepard's  compo- 
sures," but  does  not  inform  us  which  of  them 
were  published.  In  selecting  these  books  to 
be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Christian  natives, 
we  may  presume  that  the  translator  was  in- 
fluenced, not  only  by  their  merit,  but  by  affec- 
tionate respect  for  the  memory  of  their  author, 
who  had  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  Indian 
work,  but  was  cut  off  before  that  progress  had 
been  made,  which  would  so  much  have  gratified 
his  pious  feelings. 

In  1664  Eliot  published  the  Indian  Psalter  at 
Green's  press.  It  was  a  small  octavo  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pages,  and  the  edition  con- 
sisted of  five  hundred  copies.     I  suppose  this 

*  History  of  Printing,  Vol.  I.  p.  263. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  247 

to  have  been  a  separate  publication  of  the 
Book  of  Psalms,  taken  from  the  Indian  transla- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament. 

Having  given  an  account  of  Eliot's  transla- 
tions, I  shall  now  take  notice  of  other  produc- 
tions of  his  pen,  which  belong  to  nearly  the 
same  period.  As  early  as  1653  he  had  pub- 
lished a  Catechism  in  the  Indian  language,  at 
the  charge  of  the  corporation.  In  1661  a 
second  edition  was  printed,  consisting  of  a 
thousand  copies  ;  and  in  1687  a  third  or  fourth 
edition  appeared.  These  were  all  from  Green's 
press.  Mr.  Eliot  more  than  once,  in  the  course 
of  his  correspondence  with  his  English  friends, 
mentions  his  Catechism  ;  and  we  have  seen 
what  use  was  made  of  it  in  teaching  the  Indian 
children  to  write. 

He  prepared  and  published  an  Indian  Prim- 
er, perhaps  more  than  one.  The  date  of  its 
first  publication  does  not  appear.  It  was 
printed  in  1687,  when  it  had  already  passed 
through  several  editions  at  the  expense  of  the 
corporation.  This  little  book  has  found  a  use 
beyond  that  anticipated  in  its  preparation.  It 
has  assisted  the  philological  inquirers  of  the 
present  day  to  gain  a  better  knowledge,  than 
they  could  otherwise  have  had,  of  the  syllabic 
divisions  of  Indian  words.*  It  was  printed  by 
Green. 

*  3  M.  H.  Coll.,  II.  244. 


248  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

The  book,  which  next  claims  our  notice,  is 
Eliot's  Indian  Grammar.  Mr.  Thomas  classes 
this  among  the  works  printed  by  Green.  He 
describes  it  as  containing  about  sixty  pages 
quarto,  and  adds,  "  No  year  is  mentioned,  as 
I  find  is  often  the  case  with  .other  printers  be- 
sides Green  ;  but  it  must  have  been  printed 
about  1664."  *  Unless  there  was  more  than  one 
edition  of  the  Grammar,  which  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  the  case,  there  must  be  a  singular 
mistake  in  Thomas's  statement ;  for  in  the 
modern  republication  of  the  book,  the  title- 
page  of  which,  being  an  exact  reprint  of  the 
original  one,  must  give  correct  information,  it 
appears  to  have  been  printed  by  Marmaduke 
Johnson,  and  bears  the  date  of  1666. 

Mr.  Eliot  prepared  this  Grammar  for  the  as- 
sistance of  tho.se,  who  might  be  disposed  to 
learn  the  Indian  language,  as  an  instrument  of 
teaching  religion  to  the  natives,  whom  he  de- 
scribes as  "  those  ruins  of  mankind,!  among 
whom  the  Lord  is  now  about  a  resurrection- 
work,  to  call  them  into  his  holy  kingdom." 
The  book  is  prefaced  with  a  dedicatory  ad- 
dress to  Robert  Boyle,  and  to  the  rest  of  the 
corporation  of  which  he  was   governor.     Eliot 

*  History  of  Printing,  Vol.  I.  p.  257. 

f  This  strong  expression  was  used,  as  descriptive  of  the 
Indians,  by  Mr.  Hooker.  They  are  also  called  "  the  very 
ruins  of  mankind  "  in  New  England's  First  Fruits,  fyc.  p.  1. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  249 

speaks  of  it  with  much  modesty,  as  "  not  wor- 
thy the  name  of  a  grammar."  He  says  that  he 
had  merely  "  laid  together  some  bones  and 
ribs  preparatory  at  least  for  such  a  work." 
At  the  close  he  gives  a  brief  account  of  the 
manner,  in  which  he  had  acquired  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  construction  and  peculiarities  of 
this  language. 

The  Grammar  was  not  destined  to  become 
so  extensively  or  permanently  useful,  as  its 
author  hoped.  But,  as  Governor  Endicot  said, 
in  1651,  "  There  are  some  scholars  among  us, 
who  addict  themselves  to  the  study  of  the  In- 
dian tongue,"  *  it  may  be  presumed  that  the 
book  was  received  with  approbation  and  used 
with  profit  by  a  few  of  the  students  of  that 
day.  When  the  interest  in  the  Indian  cause 
declined,  the  Grammar  went  out  of  notice,  and 
its  leaves  were  seldom  disturbed.  But  atten- 
tion has  been  recalled  to  it  in  our  own  times 
by  a  reprint,   enriched  with  the  philosophical 

*  Endicot's  letter  in  Tht  Further  Progress  of  the  Gospel, 
fyc.  p.  35.  But  Gookin,  who  wrote  in  1674,  says,  "  The 
learned  English  young  men  do  not  hitherto  incline  or  en- 
deavor to  fit  themselves  for  that  service  (i.  e.  teaching  the 
natives)  by  learning  the  Indian  language.  Possibly  the 
reasons  may  be  ;  first,  the  difficulty  to  attain  that  speech  ; 
secondly,  little  encouragement  while  they  prepare  for  it ; 
thirdly,  the  difficulty  in  the  practice  of  such  a  calling 
among  them,  by  reason  of  the  poverty  and  barbarity ,"&c. 
—  1M.H.  Coll.,  I.  183. 


250  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

observations  and  learned  notes  of  Pickering 
and  Duponceau.  This  appeared  in  1822,  and 
constitutes  a  very  valuable  portion  of  the  "  Col- 
lections of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Socie- 
ty." *  The  Grammar  itself,  and  the  important 
annotations  accompanying  it,  afford  a  rich  fund 
of  materials  to  those,  who  have  the  curiosity 
to  inquire  into  the  idiomatic  structure  of  the 
speech  of  the  American  Indians.  However 
humble  might  be  Eliot's  estimate  of  his  own 
work,  its  philological  value  is  rated  very  high 
by  its  modern  editors. f 

I  shall  here  subjoin  an  interesting  letter  from 
Eliot  to  Robert  Boyle,  by  which  it  will  appear 
that  the  Grammar  was  prepared,  or  hastened, 
at  the  suggestion  of  that  distinguished  patron 
of  the  Indian  work  The  letter  is  found  in  the 
fifth  volume  of  the  folio  edition  of  Boyle's 
Works.  As  it  is  not  included  among  the  let- 
ters from  Eliot  to  Boyle  in  the  "  Collections  of 
the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,"  and  is 
in  itself  valuable  and  characteristic,  the  inser- 
tion of  it  in  this  place  may  be  gratifying  to  the 
reader. 

"Roxbury,  August  26,  1664. 
"  Right  Honorable, 

"  I  am  but  a  shrub  in  the  wilderness,  and 
have   not  yet  had  the  boldness  to  look  upon, 

*  In  the  ninth  volume  of  the  Second  Series. 
f  See  Appendix,  No.  III. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  251 

or  speak  unto,  those  cedars,  who  have  under- 
taken an  honorable  protection  of  us.  But  for 
sundry  reasons,  I  have  now  broke  out,  and 
have  taken  upon  me  the  boldness  to  write  unto 
yourself,  Right  Honorable  Sir,  because  I  do 
sufficiently  understand,  how  learning  and  hon- 
or do  rendezvous  in  your  noble  breast,  and 
what  a  true  friend  you  are  to  all  learning,  and 
also  to  this  good  work  of  the  Lord  in  promot- 
ing religion  and  the  knowledge  of  Christ  among 
our  poor  Indians. 

"  I  do  humbly  present  my  thankfulness  to 
yourself,  Noble  Governor,  and  all  the  rest  of 
your  honorable  Society,  for  your  favorable  pro- 
tection and  diligent  promotion  of  this  work, 
which  otherwise  might  have  been  sunk  and 
buried  before  this  day ;  but  by  your  vigilance 
and  prudence,  Noble  Sir,  it  is  not  only  kept  in 
being,  but  in  a  state  of  nourishing  acceptation 
with  his  Majesty,  and  other  great  peers  of  the 
land ;  which  favor  of  yours  Christian  duty  doth 
oblige  me  to  acknowledge. 

"  I  am  bold  to  present  some  things  to  the 
honorable  Corporation  (according  as  I  am  ad- 
vised) by  the  hand  of  my  Christian  friend, 
Mr.  Ashurst.  What  doth  more  immediately 
concern  learning,  I  crave  the  boldness  to  make 
mention  of  unto  yourself.  You  are  pleased  to 
intimate  unto  me  a  memorandum  of  your  de- 
sires, that  there  may  be  a  grammar  of  our  In- 


252  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

I 

dian  language  composed,  for  public  and  after 
use  ;  which  motion,  as  I  doubt  not  but  it  spring- 
eth  from  yourself,  so  my  answer  unto  yourself 
about  it  will  be  most  proper.  I  and  my  sons 
have  often  spoken  of  it.  But  now  I  take  your 
intimation  as  a  command  to  set  about  it. 
When  I  have  finished  the  translation  of  The 
Practice  of  Piety,*  my  purpose  is,  if  the  Lord 
will,  and  that  I  do  live,  to  set  upon  some  essay 
and  beginning  of  reducing  this  language  into 
rule ;  which,  in  the  most  common  and  useful 
points,  I  do  see,  is  reducible  ;  though  there  be 
corners  and  anomalities  full  of  difficulty  to  be 
reduced  under  any  stated  rule,  as  yourself 
know,  better  than  I,  it  is  in  all  languages.  I 
have  not  so  much  either  insight  or  judgment, 
as  to  dare  to  undertake  any  thing  worthy  the 
name  of  a  grammar ;  only  some  preparatory 
collections  that  way  tending,  which  may  be  of 
no  small  use  unto  such  as  may  be  studious  to 
learn  this  language,  I  desire,  if  God  will,  to 
take  some  pains  in.  But  this  is  a  work  for  the 
morrow ;  to-day  my  work  is  translation,  which, 
by  the  Lord's  help,  I  desire  to  attend  unto. 
And  thus,  with  my  humble  thankfulness,  I  shall 
cease  to  give  you  any  farther  trouble  at  pres- 

*  If  the  translation  of  this  book  was  finished  before  the 
Grammar  was  printed,  it  must  have  lain  on  Mr.  Eliot's 
hands  many  years  unpublished,  since  it  did  not  appear  till 
1685. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  253 

<ent,  but,  commending  you  unto  the  Lord   and 
to  the  word  of  his  grace, 

"  I  remain,  Right  Honorable, 

"Yours  in  all  service  I  can  in  Christ  Jesus, 

"  John  Eliot." 

In  1665  appeared  an  ecclesiastical  tract  from 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Eliot,  entitled,  Communion  of 
Churches  ;  or  the  Divine  Management  of  Gospel 
Churches  by  the  Ordinance  of  Councils,  consti- 
tuted in  Order,  according  to  the  Scriptures, 
printed  by  Marmaduke  Johnson. 

This  pamphlet  was  intended  only  for  private 
distribution,  and  has  become  very  scarce.* 
The  Preface  begins  with  the  following  remark ; 
<(  Although  a  few  copies  of  this  small  script 
are  printed,  yet  it  is  not  published,  only  com- 
mitted privately  to  some  godly  and  able  hands, 
to  be  viewed,  corrected,  amended,  or  rejected, 
as  it  shall  be  found  to  hold  weight  in  the  sanc- 
tuary balance,  or  not."  The  object  of  the  tract 
was  to  defend  the  utility  of  councils  or  synods, 
and  to  inculcate  respect  for  their  decisions,  as 
the  safeguards  of  order,  discipline,  and  purity 
of  faith  in  the  churches.  Mr.  Eliot  describes, 
with  considerable  minuteness,  the  nature  of 
ecclesiastical  councils,   the  numbers   of  which 

*  I  have  been  furnished  with  a  copy  of  it  by  the  kind- 
ness of  a  gentleman  distinguished  for  his  theological  and 
antiquarian  learning,  the  Reverend  Dr.  Harris  of  Dor- 
chester, y 


254  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

they  should  consist,  the  mode  of  electing  their 
members,  the  business  which  ought  to  come 
before  them,  and  the  manner  in  which  their  ex- 
penses might  be  defrayed.  He  would  have 
them  summoned,  not,  as  they  are  at  the  present 
day,  occasionally  to  meet  particular  emergen- 
cies, but  at  regular  periods,  and  as  permanent, 
established  conventions  for  the  arrangement 
and  adjudication  of  ecclesiastical  affairs.  His 
plan  was  large  and  systematic.  There  were 
to  be  four  orders  of  these  councils,  or  synods  ; 
each  rising  above  the  preceding  in  dignity  and 
extent  of  jurisdiction.  They  were  to  be  desig- 
nated as  the  First  Order,  the  Provincial  Coun- 
cil, the  National  Council,  and  the  (Ecumenical 
Council.  Of  each  of  these  Mr.  Eliot  points  out 
the  constitution  and  the  objects  with  a  precis- 
ion, which  evinces  his  conviction  of  the  im- 
portance of  an  exact,  well-defined  system  of 
action.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  liberty 
of  the  New  England  churches,  to  which  never- 
theless he  was  a  warm  and  firm  friend,  could 
have  been  maintained  under  such  an  arrange- 
ment. This  was  a  favorite  topic  with  our 
author.  Cotton  Mather  tells  us,*  that  while 
Eliot  respected  the  independence  of  indi- 
vidual churches,  he  attached  great  importance 
to  ecclesiastical  conventions  of  delegates  and 

#  In  his  Life  of  Eliot  in  the  Magnalia,  Part  II.  Art.  V. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  255 

messengers  from  the  churches.  He  not  only 
deemed  these  synods  in  a  high  degree  useful, 
but  was  disposed  to  have  the  results  of  their 
deliberations  so  submissively  received,  that 
"  he  would  not  be  of  any  church,  which  would 
not  acknowledge  itself  accountable  to  rightly 
composed  synods,  which  may  have  occasion  to 
inquire  into  the  circumstances  of  it."  Coun- 
cils, he  thought,  should  be  called  to  settle  all 
questions  relating  to  heresy,  contention,  mal- 
administration, and  disorder  in  ecclesiastical 
affairs. 

Mr.  Eliot  seems  not  to  have  been  aware, 
that,  by  multiplying  occasions  for  councils  and 
clothing  them  with  such  authority,  he  would 
leave  but  very  narrow  ground  for  the  inde- 
pendence of  individual  churches,  and  might 
bring  them  under  a  system  of  censorship  and 
espionage  not  much  better  than  the  rule  of 
"  the  lords  spiritual."  It  was  not  till  the 
middle  of  the  second  century,  that  the  custom 
of  holding  councils  commenced  in  the  Christian 
church.  Till  that  time  each  assembly  of  be- 
lievers was  like  a  little  state,  governed  only 
by  such  regulations  as  were  established  and 
approved  by  the  society.  Gregory  Nazianzen 
was  so  much  opposed  to  councils,  that,  in  writ- 
ing to  Procopius,  he  apologized  for  his  refusal 
to  attend  a  synod  by  saying,  "  't o  tell  you 
plainly,  I  am  determined  to  fly  all  conventions 


256  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 

of  bishops  ;  for  I  never  yet  saw  a  council  that 
ended  happily."  There  appears  to  be  no  mid- 
dle ground  between  a  regularly  established 
hierarchy  and  the  unqualified  power  of  self- 
government  in  each   body  of  worshippers 

We  learn  from  Cotton  Mather,  that  Mr.  Eliot 
published  an  answer  to  a  book  in  favor  of  anti- 
pasdobaptism  by  Mr.  Norcott.  But  I  have  seen 
neither  the  tract  itself,  nor  any  other  account 
of  it  than  that  given  by  Mather. 

We  must  now  revert  to  the  progress  of  the 
exertions  on  behalf  of  the  Indians.  An  at- 
tempt was  made  to  introduce  among  them  in- 
struction of  a  higher  kind  than  had  before  been 
given.  With  the  view  of  supplying  them  with 
learned  and  well-qualified  ministers  from  their 
own  number,  it  was  thought  that  some  of  the 
most  apt  and  studious  of  them  might  be  carried 
through  the  process  of  a  scholastic  education. 
Two  Indians  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  named  Joel 
and  Caleb,  were  accordingly  sent  to  the  college 
in  Cambridge.  Joel,  whose  improvement  is 
said  to  have  been  peculiarly  hopeful,  visited 
his  father  at  the  Vineyard  just  before  the  com- 
mencement at  which  he  would  have  taken  his 
degree.  On  his  return,  the  vessel  was  wrecked 
on  the  island  of  Nantucket ;  and  all  on  board 
were  either  lost  at  sea,  or  murdered  by  the  In- 
dians on  shore.  Thus  perished  a  young  man, 
of  whose  usefulness   flattering  hopes  were  en 


JOHN     ELIOT.  257 

tertained ;  for  Gookin,  who  knew  him  well, 
says,  "  he  was  a  good  scholar  and  a  pious  man." 
Caleb  finished  the  college  course  of  study,  and 
took  his  bachelor's  degree ;  but,  not  long  after 
Commencement,  died  of  consumption  at  Charles- 
town.* 

This  was  a  discouraging  beginning.  But, 
had  it  been  more  favorable,  the  experiment,  if 
continued,  would  doubtless  have  proved  a  fail- 
ure. It  was  too  soon  to  make  such  an  attempt. 
The  natives  must  have  been  gradually  softened, 
and  one  generation  after  another  brought  under 
the  regular  social  habits  of  civilized  life,  be- 
fore they  could  be  prepared  to  receive  academ- 
ical education  with  any  good  effect.  The 
change  from  their  roving,  careless  modes  of 
life,  from  the  freedom  of  the  woods,  and  the 
excitement  of  the  hunting-grounds,  to  the  uni- 
form and  measured  habits,  the  mental  labor, 
and  the  regular  discipline  of  a  college,  was 
quite  too  violent.  We  are  not  surprised,  there- 
fore, to  be  told  that  those,  who  undertook  the 


*  His  name  appears  on  the  Catalogue  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege, 1665,  Caleb  Cheeshahteaumuck,  Indus.  "At  the  con- 
clusion of  two  Latin  and  Greek  elegies,  which  he  com- 
posed on  the  death  of  an  eminent  minister,"  observes  Mr. 
Carne,  "  he  subscribed  himself  Cheesecaumuk,  Senior  Soph- 
ista.  What  an  incongruous  blending  of  sounds  !  "  (Lives 
of  Eminent  Missionaries,  Vol.  I.  p.  48.)  See  Gookin  in 
1  M.  H.  Coll.,  I.  173. 

vol.  v.  17  Y  2 


258  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

life  of  students,  for  the  most  part  soon  grew 
weary,  and  pined  for  their  forests  and  for  the 
company  of  their  tribe. 

But  the  friends  of  Indian  education  still 
persevered,  and  in  1665  erected  a  brick  build- 
ing at  Cambridge  for  the  use  of  the  natives, 
called  the  Indian  College.  It  was  large  enough 
to  accommodate  about  twenty  students.  The 
expense,  which  was  between  three  and  four 
hundred  pounds,  was  defrayed  by  the  corpora- 
tion in  England.  This  edifice,  however,  failed 
to  answer  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  de- 
signed, "not  being  improved,"  says  Gookin, 
"  for  the  ends  intended,  by  reason  of  the  death 
and  failing  of  Indian  scholars."  Among  other 
uses,  it  was  converted  into  a  printing-office ; 
and  in  it  was  set  up  Green's  press  for  printing 
Mr.  Eliot's  Translation  of  the  Bible. 

Meanwhile  the  apostle  continued  his  mis- 
sionary work  with  unremitted  zeal.  Of  his  visits 
and  preaching  at  the  several  Indian  stations 
between  the  time  when  the  printing  of  his  Bi- 
ble was  begun,  and  the  war  with  Philip,  we 
have  no  circumstantial  account.  But  an  idea 
may  be  formed  of  the  progress  of  the  work, 
and  of  the  amount  of  good  effected,  by  the  no- 
tice which  Gookin,  who  wrote  in  1674,  has  left 
of  the  "  Indian  praying  towns."  * 

*  1M.  H.  Coll.,  1. 180-196. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  259 

At  Natick  Mr.  Eliot,  in  addition  to  his  other 
instructions,  set  up  "  a  lecture  in  logic  and 
theology,"  as  it  was  designated.  This  was 
attended  once  a  fortnight  during  the  summer. 
He  alludes  to  it  in  a  letter  to  Boyle  in  1670, 
when  he  says,  "  Your  Honor  will  see,  that  1 
have  undertaken  and  begun  a  kind  of  academ- 
ical reading  unto  them  in  their  own  language, 
thereby  to  teach  the  teachers  and  rulers,  and 
all  that  are  desirous  of  learning."  We  cannot 
suppose,  that  he  purposed,  or  expected,  to  in 
doctrinate  the  natives  in  the  technical  forms  or 
subtile  distinctions  of  the  logic  of  the  schools. 
The  object  of  his  lectures  was  to  accustom 
them,  in  some  degree,  to  clear  and  methodical 
habits  of  thought,  that  they  might  arrange  and 
express  their  ideas  on  religious  subjects  with 
propriety.  These  instructions  seem  to  have 
been  designed  chiefly  for  such  as  were  to  be 
trained  to  the  office  of  teaching  and  expound- 
ing. In  aid  of  this  design,  Eliot  published,  in 
1672,  an  Indian  Logick  Primer,  which  was 
printed  by  Johnson  at  Cambridge.  Natick 
became  a  kind  of  seminary,  from  which  teach- 
ers went  forth  among  their  brethren  at  the 
other  stations. 

About  two  miles  from  Wamesit,*    near   Pau- 
tucket  Falls,  was  the  wigwam  of  Wannalancet, 

*  Tewkesbury. 


26C  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 

a  sachem  of  much  distinction,  the  eldest  son 
of  Passaconaway,  who  has  been  before  men- 
tioned. Wannalancet,  though  grave  in  his 
character  and  friendly  to  the  English,  had  not 
been  persuaded  to  embrace  Christianity,  but 
was  willing  to  hear  preaching.  His  reluctance 
to  yield  himself  a  convert  was  thought  to  arise 
from  the  opposition  to  such  a  step,  which  he 
found  among  his  relations  and  chief  men.  But 
in  May,  1674,  his  aversion  was  overcome.  He 
listened  to  Mr.  Eliot's  preaching,  and,  after  the 
discourse,  signified  to  him  his  change  of  mind 
by  the  following  address,  which  is  an  apt  illus- 
tration of  the  Indian  love  of  figurative  speech. 
"  You  have  been  pleased  in  your  abundant 
goodness,  for  four  years  past,  to  exhort  me 
and  my  people,  with  much  persuasion,  to  pray 
to  God.  I  acknowledge,  that  I  have  been 
used  all  my  life  to  pass  up  and  down  in  an  old 
canoe ;  and  now  you  wish  me  to  make  a 
change,  to  leave  my  old  canoe  and  embark  in  a 
new  one,  to  which  I  have  been  unwilling ;  but 
now  I  give  up  myself  to  your  advice,  enter  into 
a  new  canoe,  and  do  engage  to  pray  to  God 
hereafter."  One  of  the  company  present,  pur- 
suing the  figure,  desired  Mr.  Eliot  to  say  to 
Wannalancet,  that  "  while  he  went  in  his  old 
canoe,  though  the  stream  was  quiet,  the  end 
would  be  destruction ;  but  that  now  he  had 
embarked  in  the  new  canoe,  though   he   should 


JOHN     ELIOT.  261 

meet  storms  and  rough  passages,  yet  he  must 
take  courage  and  persevere,  for  the  end  would 
be  everlasting  rest."  After  this,  Wannalancet 
became  faithful  and  constant,  for  the  most  part, 
in  the  observance  of  religious  duties,  though 
he  was  deserted  by  many  of  his  people. 

There  were  seven  old  towns  of  "  praying  In- 
dians," so  called  because  they  were  first  settled 
in  civil  and  religious  order. 

Besides  these,  there  were  in  the  Nipmuck 
country  seven  "  new  praying  towns,"  so  desig- 
nated because  they  were  more  recently  brought 
into  the  profession  of  the  Christian  faith. 
They  were  on  the  territory  now  occupied  by 
the  towns  of  Ward,  Oxford,  Uxbridge,  Dudley, 
and  Woodstock. 

In  1673  and  1674,  Eliot  and  Gookin  jour- 
neyed through  this  region,  to  scatter  the  seed 
of  divine  truth,  to  confirm  the  converted,  to 
settle  religious  teachers,  and  to  establish  civil 
order.  On  this  journey,  the  faithful  evangelist 
spent  the  day  in  travelling  through  pathless 
woods  and  in  preaching  ;  the  evening  he  de- 
voted to  conversation  in  the  wigwams,  when 
questions  were  heard  and  answered.  The  heart 
of  the  good  man  glowed  within  him,  as  the 
children  of  the  forest  gathered  around  him,  and, 
in  the  familiar  confidence  inspired  by  his  un- 
wearied affection,  gazed  on  his  countenance 
with    curious   wonder,   and  sought  instruction 


262  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

from  his  lips.  At  one  place,  he  preached  from 
the  passage,  "  Lift  up  your  heads,  0  ye  gates, 
and  be  ye  lift  up,  ye  everlasting  doors,  and  the 
King  of  glory  shall  come  in."  Perhaps  never, 
under  the  splendid  arches  or  the  beautiful 
carved  work  of  an  ancient  cathedral,  did  these 
words  inspire  more  of  heartfelt  eloquence,  than 
when  this  holy  man  discoursed  of  them  in  the 
forest  sanctuary  of  the  wilderness. 

The  travellers  proceeded  to  other  places. 
Religious  teachers  and  civil  officers  were  ap- 
pointed or  confirmed.  These  were  charged 
solemnly  "  to  be  diligent  and  faithful  for  God, 
zealous  against  sin,  and  careful  in  sanctify- 
ing the  Sabbath."  On  the  18th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1674,  after  prayer,  singing,  and  religious 
exhortation,  Eliot  and  Gookin  took  leave  of 
these  new  settlements,  went  to  Marlborough, 
and  thence  returned  to  their  own  homes. 

Within  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts 
there  were,  at  this  time,  two  Indian  churches, 
fourteen  towns  of  "  praying  Indians,"  which 
were  considered  as  established,  and  two  others 
in  a  state  of  preparation.  The  number  of  In- 
dians in  this  whole  territory  was  computed  by 
Gookin  to  be  eleven  hundred.* 


*  The  following-  estimate  of  the  whole  number  of  "pray- 
ing Indians  "  in  1674,  at  other  places,  as  well  as  those 
referred  to  above,  is  taken  from  Judge  Davis's  note  to 


JOHN     ELIOT.  263 

We  have  already  seen,  that  Mr.  Eliot's  care 
extended  beyond  the  Massachusetts  line.  He 
sometimes  travelled  into  the  jurisdiction  of 
Plymouth  and  Martha's  Vineyard.  These  visits, 
as  well  as  his  letters  and  example,  animated 
his  fellow-laborers  in  these  places  to  prosecute 
the  cause  of  religion  among  the  natives.  In 
1670,  Eliot  and  Cotton  of  Plymouth  went  to 
Martha's  Vineyard,  and  there,  in  connexion 
with  Mr.  Mayhew,  ordained  for  pastor  of  the 
Indian  church  Hiacoomes,  the  first  converted 
native.  This  church,  for  purposes  of  conven- 
ience, was  soon  divided  into  two,  one  of 
which  had  a  pastor,  the  other  a  teacher,  and 
both  ruling  elders.  Soon  after  this,  an  Indian 
church  was  gathered  at  Mashpee,  and  Mr. 
Bourne  ordained  its  pastor.  His  ordination 
was  solemnized  by  Mr.  Eliot  and  Mr.  Cotton, 
with  delegates  from  the  Natick  church  and  that 
of  the  Vineyard. 

A  letter  is   extant  written  by  Mr.  Eliot,  in 


Morton's  Memorial  (pp.  407-415),  where  may  be  seen 
further  statements  of  the  situation  and  number  of  the 
Christian  natives  at  subsequent  periods. 

In  Massachusetts,  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Eliot,  .  .  .1100 
In  Plymouth  Colony,  by  Mr.  Bourne's  and  Cotton's  account,  530 
Additional  number,  under  Cotton's  care  in  Plymouth  Colony,       170 

On  Nantucket 300 

On  Martha's  Vineyard  and  Chappaquiddick,  under  the  care  of 
the  Mayhews, 1500 

Total        3600 


264  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 

August,  1673,  to  a  friend,  who  had  asked  for 
information  as  to  the  state  of  Christianity 
among  the  Indians  generally.*  Eliot  states, 
that  six  churches  had  been  gathered  among 
them,  one  at  Natick,  one  at  Hassanamesit,f 
one  at  Mashpee,  two  at  Martha's  Vineyard, 
and  one  at  Nantucket.  These  churches  had 
been  formed  in  the  same  way  as  among  the 
English.  They  were  all  furnished  with  reli- 
gious officers,  except  the  church  at  Natick, 
where,  says  Mr.  Eliot,  "  in  modesty  they  stand 
off,  because,  so  long  as  I  live,  they  say  there  is 
no  need."  This  favorite  church,  the  first 
planted  by  his  special  care  and  labor,  might 
well  regard  him  as  their  only  spiritual  father. 
There  is  something  touching  in  their  affection- 
ate reverence  for  the  apostle,  which  would  al- 
low them  to  receive  no  other  teacher,  while  his 
hallowed  voice  could  be  heard. 

In  these  churches  of  the  natives,  the  ordi- 
nances were  administered,  and  discipline  exer- 
cised, as  in  all  other  churches.  Mr.  Eliot  vin- 
dicated his  converts  from  every  suspicion  of 
heresy,  with  a  zeal  that  is  amusing,  though  it 
was  so  sincere  ;  for,  as  yet,  how  or  where 
would  the  poor  Indians  be  likely  to  become 
heretics  %  He  endeavored  to  persuade  his 
brethren   and   the   elders  in  the  churches,  that 

*  1  M.  H.  Coll.,  X.  124.  J  Grafton. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  265 

it  was  their  duty  to  receive  these  Christians  of 
the  wilderness  into  their  communion.  From 
his  manner  of  expression,  it  would  seem,  that 
some  reluctance  had  been  manifested  towards 
extending  this  fellowship  to  the  Indians.  But 
Cotton  Mather  tells  us,  that,  at  Martha's  Vine- 
yard and  Nantucket,  "  the  Christian  English  in 
the  neighborhood,  who  would  have  been  loth  to 
have  mixed  with  them  in  a  civil  relation,  yet 
have  gladly  done  it  in  a  sacred  one." 


266  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Letter  from  Eliot  to  Governor  Prince.  —  Suffer- 
ings and  Conduct  of  the  Christian  Indians  dur- 
ing Philip's  War,  and  Eliot's  Solicitude  on 
their  Behalf 

Of  the  troubles,  which  preceded  the  war 
with  Philip,  Mr.  Eliot  was  no  inattentive  ob- 
server. Those  who  are  acquainted  with  Indian 
history  will  recollect,  that,  before  that  war 
broke  out,  much  alarm  had  been  excited  in 
Plymouth  Colony  by  some  threatening  indica- 
tions from  that  spirited  and  restless  chieftain. 
Fears  were  entertained,  that  the  Indians  about 
Plymouth  might  be  induced  to  join  his  stand 
ard,  and  constitute  an  alliance  formidable  to 
the  security  and  peace  of  the  colony.  The 
government  of  Plymouth  took  measures  to  sup- 
press or  prevent  such  movements.  The  na- 
tives in  several  places  had  been  required  to 
surrender  their  arms.  Hostile  appearances  for 
the  present  ceased ;  for  Philip  at  length  re- 
newed the  covenant  of  peace  and  friendship 
with  the  English,  and  agreed  to  resign  his 
arms  to  be  kept  by  them  as  long  as  they  should 
find  reason  for  so  doing.* 

*  Hutchinson,  Vol.  I.  p.  254  et  seq.,  and  Drake's  Book 
of  the  Indians,  B.  III.  p.  18. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  267 

In  relation  to  this  subject,  Mr.  Eliot  in  June, 
1671,  wrote  a  letter  of  advice  to  Mr.  Prince, 
Governor  of  Plymouth,  which  I  shall  here  in- 
sert, and  which  I  believe  has  never  before  been 
published.  The  address  is,  "  To  the  Right 
Worshipful  Mr.  Prince,  Governor  of  Plimouth." 

"  Sir, 
"Let  not  my  boldnesse  in  medling  with  your 
state  matters  be  an  offence  unto  you  ;  and,  this 
request  being  humbly  premised,  I  shall  be 
bold  to  suggest  my  poor  advice,  that  stoute 
people,  who  refuse  to  render  their  armes,  be 
pursued  with  speed  and  vigor  until  they  stoop, 
and  quake,  and  give  up  (at  least)  some  of  their 
armes  ;  which  done,  immediately  give  them  to 
them  again ;  and  first  Phillip  his,  the  sooner 
the  better.  My  reasons  are  ;  first,  lest  we  ren- 
der ourselves  more  afraid  of  them  and  their 
guns  than  indeed  we  are,  or  have  cause  to  be; 
alass,  it  is  not  the  gun,  but  the  man,  nor  in- 
deed is  it  the  man,  but  our  sin,  that  we  have 
cause  to  be  afraid  of;  secondly,  your  so  doing 
will  open  an  effectual  door  to  their  entertainment 
of  the  Gospel.  Our  worthys,  by  the  assistance 
of  the  Lord,  have  vigorously  prosecuted  and 
executed  the  murderer.  This  act  of  eminent 
justice  hath  and  will  strike  more  terror  into 
them  than  ten  disarmings,  though  in  due  sea- 
son that  is   a  prudent   way   too.     But  I   shall 


268  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

give  you  no  further  trouble  at  present,  but, 
committing  you  to  the  Lord  and  to  the  word  of 
his  grace,  I  remain 

"  Your  Worship's  to  serve  you 
"  in  the  Lord  Jesus, 

"  John  Eliot.* 
"Roxb.,  this  16th  of  the  4th,  '71." 

This  advice  seems  to  have  been  given  with 
the  best  intentions,  and,  however  strange  it 
might   seem  to  men  alarmed  as   the  Plymouth 

*  Mr.  Eliot's  autograph  of  the  above  letter  is  in  the 
possession  of  Judge  Davis  of  Boston.  To  the  kindness  of 
that  distinguished  jurist  and  scholar  1  am  indebted  for  per- 
mission to  take  this  copy.  Judge  Davis  has  done  me  the 
favor  to  accompany  his  transmission  of  the  letter  with  the 
following  remarks.  "  Mr.  Eliot's  advice  must  have  ap- 
peared a  little  odd  to  the  statesmen  of  the  day  ;  but  Gov- 
ernor Prince  appears  to  have  yielded  to  it  in  part,  or  at 
least  to  have  pursued  the  course  recommended,  in  refer- 
ence to  some  of  the  Indians.  (See  his  letter  to  Goodman 
Cooke,  August  24th,  1671,  1  M.  H.  Coll.,  V.  196.)  The  In- 
dians there  intended  were,  I  suppose,  those  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Dartmouth." 

With  regard  to  the  murderer,  to  whom  Eliot  alludes  in 
the  letter,  Judge  Davis  gives  the  following  explanation. 
"  Hutchinson  in  a  note  (Vol.  I.  p.  258)  speaks  of  '  an  Eng- 
lishman shot  through  the  body  in  Dedham  woods  in  the 
spring  of  the  year  1671,'  and  says,  that  'an  Indian,  the  sup- 
posed murderer,  was  taken  and  imprisoned.'  'But,' adds 
Hutchinson,  'whether  he  was  executed  or  not,  I  do  not 
find  ;  but  it  kept  the  colony  in  an  alarm  for  some  time.'  Is 
it  not  probable,  that  this  is  '  the  murderer '  mentioned  in 
Eliot's  letter?" 


JOHN     ELIOT.  269 

people  then  were,  it  was  probably  not  injudi- 
cious. It  may  be  questioned  whether  it  was 
wisely  done  to  disarm  the  Indians,  or  at  least 
to  detain  their  guns.  The  second  of  the  rea- 
sons, which  Mr.  EHot  gives  for  his  opinion, 
shows  that  he  never  lost  sight  of  the  interests 
of  his  favorite  cause. 

The  work  of  planting  Christianity  among  the 
Indians  had  at  this  period  reached  its  highest 
state  of  prosperity.  It  had  received  its  lead- 
ing impulse  from  the  hands  of  one  devoted  in- 
dividual. From  humble  beginnings,  through 
difficulties  and  discouragements,  it  had,  for 
nearly  thirty  years,  gradually  gained  strength 
and  found  favor,  till  he  who  made  his  first 
doubtful  and  almost  hopeless  visit  to  the  wig- 
wams of  Nonantum,  could  range  over  a  wide 
region,  or  send  his  thoughts  to  far  distant  hills 
and  forests,  with  the  cheering  consciousness, 
that  God  had  blessed  his  toil,  and  that  foun- 
tains of  life  were  opened  to  refresh  the  waste 
places.  It  was  to  the  aged  apostle  a  season 
of  such  happiness,  as  is  known  only  to  the 
heart  that  gives  itself  up,  as  an  offering  on  the 
altar  of  a  righteous  cause.  But  the  scene  was 
to  be  changed.  It  is  a  melancholy  thought, 
that  the  close  of  this  good  man's  life  should 
have  been  saddened  by  seeing  his  long  cher- 
ished hopes  overcast  with  a  cloud  of  discour- 
agement. Philip's  war,  which  spread  such  terror 

Z<2 


270  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

and  devastation  through  some  parts  of  New 
England,  smote  heavily  upon  the  Christian  en- 
terprise among  the  natives,  and  filled  the  hearts 
of  its  ardent  friends  with  that  distress,  which 
the  good  feel,  when  the  anticipations  of  piouis 
benevolence  are  defeated. 

Mr.  Eliot  was  seventy-one  years  old,  when  the 
war  with  Philip  began,  but  was  still  strong,  ac- 
tive, and  full  of  the  Christian  zeal  which  had  an- 
imated his  earlier  days.  It  does  not  fall  within 
my  province  to  discuss  the  character  of  Philip. 
That  he  was  an  able,  bold,  and  astute  chief, 
no  one  can  deny.  His  lofty  and  regal  spirit 
was  strikingly  exemplified  in  his  answer  to  an 
ambassador,  sent  to  him  by  the  Governor  of 
Massachusetts.  "Your  Governor,"  said  he, 
"  is  but  a  subject ;  I  will  not  treat  except  with 
my  brother,  King  Charles  of  England."  *  Like 
his  father,  Massassoit,  he  would  neither  re- 
ceive the  Christian  religion  himself,  nor  permit 
it  to  be  introduced  among  his  subjects.  We  are 
informed,  that  when  Mr.  Eliot  once  offered  to 
preach  Christianity  to  him  and  his  people,  he 
rejected  the  offer  with  disdain,  and,  taking  hold 

*  We  learn  this  from  a  tract  entitled,  "  The  Present 
State  of  New  England  with  respect  to  the  Indian  War, 
&c. ;  faithfully  composed  by  a  Merchant  of  Boston,  and 
communicated  to  his  Friend  in  London  ; "  first  printed  at 
London  in  1675,  and  republished  at  Boston  in  1833,  by 
S.  G.  Drake.     See  p.  68. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  271 

of  a  button  on  the  apostle's  coat,  told  him  he 
cared  no  more  for  the  Gospel  than  for  that 
button.  It  seems,  however,  that  a  hope  of  his 
conversion  was  at  one  time  entertained.  So, 
at  least,  Gookin  testifies,  and  affirms  that  he 
himself  had  heard  him  use  expressions,  which 
implied,  that  his  conscience  was  touched  by 
good  influences.*  But,  if  such  soft  moments 
of  relenting  ever  came,  they  were  soon  ban- 
ished by  the  habitually  strong  passions  of  the 
wild  sachem.  The  voice  of  holy  persuasion, 
which  reached  the  hearts  of  so  many  in  the 
forest,  could  not  subdue  him.  The  war-cry, 
which  rang  through  the  woods  and  echoed  from 
the  hills,  was  more  pleasant  music  to  his  ear, 
than  all  the  eloquent  words  of  peace  and  love 
which  the  good  evangelist  could  utter. 

When  the  war  commenced,  it  was  to  be  ex- 
pected that  those  Indians,  who  were  supposed 
to  be  united  with  the  English  by  religious  sym- 
pathy, would  find  little  mercy  at  the  hands  of 
Philip.  He  might  hope  to  win  or  frighten 
some  of  them  to  his  side  ;  but  for  the  most 
part  he  could  regard  them  only  with  feelings 
of  hostility.  The  annoyance  and  the  injury, 
which  might  come  from  this  quarter,  were  to 
be  anticipated  as  the  natural  results  of  a  state 
of  war.     But   the    Christian   Indians   incurred 

*  1  M.  H.  Coll.,  I.  200. 


272  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

another  and  more  trying  calamity  from  a  source, 
to  which  they  looked  only  for  kindness.  The 
English  soon  began  to  regard  them  with  stern 
suspicion  and  angry  apprehension.  There  was 
little  or  no  confidence  in  their  fidelity.  It  was 
believed,  that  they  would,  at  any  moment,  by 
craft  or  open  alliance,  render  all  the  assistance 
in  their  power  to  the  hostile  Indians.  This 
became  the  popular  sentiment ;  and  under  its 
influence  Mr.  Eliot's  hapless  converts  suffered 
the  harshest  injustice.  It  was  their  hard  fate 
to  have  the  good  will  of  neither  party  in  the 
war ;  to  be  treated  by  Philip  as  allies  of  the 
English,  and  to  be  sharply  suspected  by  the 
English  of  a  secret  but  determined  leaning 
towards  Philip.* 

*  My  principal  guide  in  this  part  of  my  narrative  has 
been  a  very  interesting  manuscript,  written  by  Gookin,  to 
which  I  have  already  occasionally  referred.  Its  title  is, 
An  Historical  Account  of  the  Doings  and  Sufferings  of  the 
Christian  Indians  in  New  England  in  the  Years  1675, 1676, 
1677.  Impartially  drawn  by  One  ivell  acquainted  with  that 
Affair,  and  presented  unto  the  Right  Honorable  the  Corpora- 
tion residing  in  London,  fyc.  It  is  preceded  by  Gookin's 
"  Epistle  Dedicatory  to  the  Honorable  Robert  Boyle,"  and 
by  a  letter  from  Mr.  Eliot  to  Gookin  "  upon  his  perusal  of 
it."  Eliot  testifies  to  the  accuracy  of  the  narrative.  "  I 
do  not  see,"  he  says,  "  that  any  man  or  orders  of  men  can 
find  just  cause  of  excepting  against  (human  frailties  ex- 
cepted) any  thing  that  you  have  written." 

This  manuscript  was  loaned  to  Mr.  Sparks  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Campbell  of  Pittsburg,  who  procured  it  in  England, 


JOHN     ELIOT.  273 

The  circumstances  of  the  time  account  for 
this  inflamed  state  of  popular  feeling  against 
the  Christian  Indians.  A  fierce  and  powerful 
enemy  was  ravaging  the  country.  The  flames 
of  burning  villages  glared  in  the  darkness  of 
midnight ;  the  scalping-knife,  the  arrow,  and 
firearms  were  lurking  in  ambush  by  day.  In 
the  storms  of  winter,  and  amidst  the  sunshine 
of  summer,  an  insidious  and  cruel  warfare  was 
ever  in  progress,  and  dismay  struck  upon  every 
settlement.  The  passions  of  the  people  were 
naturally  exasperated  to  the  highest  pitch 
against  those,  the  dread  of  whose  incursions 
disturbed  the  slumbers  of  night,  and  surround- 
ed the  labors  of  the  field  with  peril.  The 
usual  epithets  applied  to  the  savage  foe  were 
"  wolves,  blood-hounds,  fiends,  devils  incar- 
nate "  ;  and  Increase  Mather  uttered  the  com- 
mon sentiment,  when  he  said,  that  the  English 
did  not  "  cease  crying  to  the  Lord  against 
Philip,  until  they  had  prayed  the  bullet  into  his 
heart." 

Under  intense  alarm,  men  are  apt  to  lose 
sight   of  the   distinction  between  justice   and 

and  allowed  Mr.  Sparks  to  have  a  copy  taken.  It  is  now 
about  to  be  published  by  the  American  Antiquarian  Society 
in  Worcester.  It  contains  much  that  cannot  be  learned 
from  any  other  source,  and,  though  perhaps  the  narrative 
is  sometimes  colored  by  the  partialities  of  the  writer,  id 
doubtless  in  all  important  points  faithful  and  correct. 
VOL.    V.  18 


274  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

injustice,  between  right  and  wrong.  The  peo- 
ple in  general,  perhaps,  were  but  little  ac- 
quainted with  the  Praying  Indians  ;  and  if 
they  had  been,  they  might  easily  believe  that 
their  adoption  of  the  Christian  religion  would 
not  effectually  repress  the  impulse  to  return,  in 
the  hour  of  warlike  excitement,  to  their  brethren 
of  the  woods,  from  whom  they  had  been  separ- 
ated only  by  the  slender  line  of  an  imperfect 
civilization.  These  men  had  also  been  among 
the  English ;  and,  knowing  their  habits  and 
their  force,  might  be  the  more  dangerous, 
should  they  go  over  to  the  enemy.  Besides, 
suspicion,  which  under  any  circumstances  would 
be  likely  to  turn  a  watchful  and  keen  eye  upon 
them,  was  inflamed  by  the  fact,  that  some  did 
leave  their  settlements,  and  join  the  arms  of 
Philip,*  though  by  far  the  greater  part  were 
true  to  the  English  interest.  These  circum- 
stances, while  they  do  not  justify,  may  account 
for  that  blind  excitement,  which  would  not 
stop  to  separate  between  the  innocent  and  the 
guilty,   but  involved   all  the   Praying    Indians 

*  These  were  almost  wholly  from  what  were  called  the 
new  praying  towns,  who,  says  Gookin,  "  being  but  raw  and 
lately  initiated  into  the  Christian  profession,  most  of  them 
fell  off  from  the  English  and  joined  with  the  enemy  in  the 
war,  some  few  excepted."  The  old  towns  remained  faith- 
ful, but  the  indignation  of  popular  feeling  did  not  attend  to 
the  distinction. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  275 

in  one  common  proscription.  From  the  indis- 
criminate resentment,  however,  which  pervad- 
ed the  mass  of  the  community,  the  magistrates 
and  government  were,  for  the  most  part,  ex- 
empt ;  but  they  were  seldom  able  to  stem  the 
violence  of  the  popular  current. 

On  many  occasions  the  Christian  Indians 
rendered  good  and  faithful  service  during  the 
war,  and  were  ambitious  of  acquitting  them- 
selves to  the  satisfaction  of  the  English.  In 
July,  1675,  Captain  Hutchinson  and  Captain 
Wheeler  were  sent  to  treat  with  the  Indians  in 
the  Nipmuck  country.  Three  Christian  Indians 
accompanied  the  expedition,  as  guides  and  in- 
terpreters, and  so  faithfully  performed  their 
duties,  that  the  most  ample  testimony  to  their 
good  conduct  was  given  by  the  commanding 
officers.  One  of  them  was  taken  prisoner. 
But,  notwithstanding  their  services,  the  two 
who  returned  were  treated  with  so  much  harsh- 
ness by  the  English,  that  "  for  want  of  shelter, 
protection,  and  encouragement,"  as  Gookin 
affirms,  "  they  were  in  a  manner  constrained  to 
fall  off  to  the  enemy."  One  of  them  was  kill- 
ed by  a  scouting  party  of  Praying  Indians. 
The  other  was  taken  prisoner,  sold  as  a  slave 
in  Boston,  and  sent  to  Jamaica.  By  the  earn- 
est intercession  of  Mr.  Eliot,  he  was  brought 
back,  but  still  held  in  slavery.     His  wife  and 


276  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

his  two  children,  who  were  also  in  captivity, 
were  redeemed  by  Mr.  Eliot. 

In  August,  1675,  a  number  of  the  Christian 
Indians  at  Marlborough  were  seized  and  sent 
to  Boston  for  trial,  on  the  charge  of  having 
been  concerned  in  the  murder  of  several  per- 
sons at  Lancaster.  The  accusation  was  ground- 
less, and  the  whole  affair  was  believed  to  have 
been  a  malicious  proceeding.  During  the  trial, 
Eliot  and  Gookin  made  every  effort  in  their 
power  to  save  these  men  from  being  sacrificed 
to  popular  fury,  and  thereby  brought  upon 
themselves  the  indignation  of  those,  whose 
passions  had  heated  them  into  a  thirst  for  the 
blood  of  the  Indians.  The  venerable  evangel- 
ist and  the  faithful  magistrate  were  reviled, 
and  subjected  to  the  most  injurious  suspicions. 

An  anecdote  may  illustrate  this  state  of 
feeling.  Mr.  Eliot  was  once  on  a  sailing  ex- 
cursion, when  the  boat  in  which  he  had  taken 
passage  was  run  down  and  overset  by  a  large 
vessel.  Eliot  was  in  great  danger  of  sinking 
to  a  watery  grave,  but  by  strenuous  effort  was 
happily  rescued.  This  happened  in  the  time 
of  the  Indian  war,  when  the  excitement  against 
him  was  high ;  and  one  man,  full  of  the  popu- 
lar fury,  hearing  how  narrowly  Mr.  Eliot  had 
escaped,  said  he  wished  he  had  been  drowned.* 

*  Life  of  Eliot  in  the  Magnalia,  Part  I.  Article  V 


JOHN     ELIOT.  277 

Gookin  was  publicly  insulted,  while  acting  as 
a  member  of  the  court.  He  said  on  the  bench, 
that  he  was  afraid  to  walk  in  the  streets. 

Facts  like  these  mark  the  exasperated  state 
of  popular  feeling  on  this  subject,  and  prove 
that  it  required  no  common  firmness  in  Mr. 
Eliot  and  his  friend,  at  such  a  time,  to  plead 
the  cause  of  those  whom  they  supposed  to  be 
innocent.  They  were  ever  on  the  alert  to  pro- 
tect their  defenceless  converts,  and,  with  a 
courage  inspired  by  Christian  principle,  shrunk 
from  no  danger  or  obloquy.  Their  judgment 
may  have  been  in  some  instances  biassed  by 
the  partiality  of  zeal ;  but  their  moral  intre- 
pidity was  worthy  of  all  praise. 

In  consequence  of  the  prevalent  excitement, 
the  court  passed  an  order,  that  the  Indians  at 
Natick  should  be  forthwith  removed  to  Deer 
Island,  having  first  obtained  the  consent  of  the 
owner  of  that  island.*  Captain  Thomas  Pren- 
tiss, with  a  party  of  horse,  was  appointed  to 
superintend  their  removal.  He  took  a  few  men 
to  assist,  and  five  or  six  carts  to  carry  away 
such  commodities  as  would  be  indispensable 
for  the  Indians.  When  he  arrived  at  Natick 
and  made  known  to  them  the  pleasure  of  the 
court,  they  sadly  but  quietly  submitted,  and 
were  soon  ready  to  follow  him.     Their  numbei 

*  Mr.  Samuel  Shrimpton,  of  Boston. 

Aa 


278  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

was  about  two  hundred,  including  men,  women, 
and  children.  They  were  ordered  to  a  place 
called  The  Pines  on  Charles  River,  two  miles 
above  Cambridge,  where  boats  were  to  be  in 
readiness  to  take  them  to  the  island.  At  this 
place,  their  spiritual  father  and  ever  faithful 
friend,  Mr.  Eliot,  met  them,  to  say  a  few  kind 
and  consoling  words  before  they  embarked. 
While  he  sympathized  in  their  sorrows,  he  ex- 
horted them  to  be  patient  under  suffering  and 
firm  in  their  faith,  reminding  them  that  through 
much  tribulation  they  must  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  God. 

There  is  an  affecting  moral  beauty  in  this 
scene.  That  settlement,  towards  which  the 
heart  of  the  good  apostle  had  yearned  alike 
through  seasons  of  discouragement  and  of 
hope  ;  the  foundations  of  which  were  laid  by  his 
own  hands  and  hallowed  by  his  own  prayers  ; 
where  the  tree  of  life,  as  he  believed,  was  firm- 
ly rooted  in  the  wilderness  ;  where,  by  the  pa- 
tient labor  of  years,  he  had  made  the  word  .of 
God  understood,  and  had  reared  civil  and  so- 
cial institutions  ;  that  settlement,  which  prob- 
ably next  to  his  own  home  he  loved  better  than 
any  thing  else  on  earth,  is  suddenly  broken  up, 
in  consequence  of  a  misguided  excitement,  and 
its  inhabitants  are  hurried  away  from  their 
fields  and  homes  into  what  is  little  better  than 
an  imprisonment.     At  the  hour  of  their  depar- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  279 

ture,  the  venerable  man,  on  whose  head  more 
than  seventy  winters  had  shed  their  frosts, 
stands  with  them  on  the  bank  of  the  river  to 
pour  forth  his  prayers  for  them,  to  mingle  his 
tears  with  theirs,  and  to  teach  them  the  lesson, 
not  of  resentment  against  man,  but  of  submis- 
sion to  God,  the  lesson  of  meekness  and  of 
strong  endurance.  The  whole  company  pres- 
ent were  deeply  affected  to  see  the  quiet  resig- 
nation "  of  the  poor  souls,  encouraging  and 
exhorting  one  another  with  prayers  and  tears." 
On  the  30th  of  October,  1675,  about  midnight, 
when  the  tide  served,  they  embarked  in  three 
vessels  and  were  transported  to  their  destined 
confinement  on  Deer  Island. 

The  slightest  occurrence  was  enough  to  kin- 
dle the  passions  of  the  English  into  outrage. 
A  barn  in  Chelmsford,  full  of  hay  and  grain, 
was  burnt  to  the  ground.  This  was  afterwards 
discovered  to  have  been  done  by  some  skulk- 
ing Indians  of  the  enemy's  party.  But  the  in- 
habitants of  the  place  at  once  imputed  the 
crime  to  the  Christian  Indians  of  Wamesit,  and 
in  the  heat  of  resentment,  without  further  in- 
quiry, determined  on  revenge.  Fourteen  men 
from  Chelmsford  went  with  arms  to  their  wig- 
wams, and  called  to  them  to  come  out.  When 
they,  suspecting  no  harm,  appeared,  two.  of  the 
men  fired  upon  them.  One  lad  was  killed,  and 
five  women  and  children  were  wounded.     The 


280  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

murderers  were  soon  arrested  and  brought  to 
trial ;  but  were  acquitted  by  a  jury  acting  under 
the  influence  of  the  popular  exasperation.  The 
Wamesit  Indians  were  so  frightened  by  this 
brutal  assault,  that  most  of  them  fled  from 
their  settlement  far  into  the  forests,  and  re- 
mained there  a  long  time  exposed  to  cold  and 
hunger. 

Attempts  were  made  to  induce  them  to  re- 
turn ;  but  the  remembrance  of  the  day  when 
their  wives  and  children  were  shot  down  like 
wild  beasts  was  still  fresh,  and  they  refused. 
They,  however,  sent  by  the  messengers  a  let- 
ter, addressed  to  Lieutenant  Henchman  of 
Chelmsford,  in  which  there  was  a  passage, 
which  must  have  brought  a  blush  to  the  faces 
of  men  calling  themselves  Christians.  "  We 
are  not  sorry,"  they  said,  "  for  what  we  leave 
behind  ;  but  we  are  sorry,  that  the  English 
have  driven  us  from  our  praying  to  God,  and 
from  our  teacher.  We  did  begin  to  understand 
a  little  of  praying  to  God."  But  at  length 
winter  and  hunger  drove  them  back  to  their 
wigwams. 

When  their  return  was  made  known  at  Bos- 
ton, a  committee,  consisting  of  Mr.  Eliot,  Ma- 
jor Gookin,  and  Major  Willard,  was  appointed 
to  visit  .them  with  a  message  of  friendship  and 
encouragement,  and  to  persuade  the  people  of 
Chelmsford  into  a  better  temper  towards  them. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  28 1 

The  committee  discharged  their  duty  promptly 
by  doing  their  utmost  to  restore  quiet  and  am- 
ity. They  were  also  directed  to  visit  Concord, 
where  the  Nashobah  Indians  were  then  living. 
These  they  placed  under  the  care  of  Mr.  John 
Hoare,  their  firm  friend,  who  allowed  them  to 
establish  their  wigwams  on  his  grounds  near 
his  house. 

The  sachem  Wannalancet,  who  has  been  be- 
fore mentioned,  had  retired  to  some  distance 
from  his  usual  residence  on  the  Merrimac;  but 
he  continued  friendly  to  the  English.  In  the 
autumn  of  1675,  Messrs.  Eliot  and  Gookin 
were  sent  on  an  embassy  to  urge  him  to 
return  to  his  accustomed  place  of  residence. 
In  a  letter  to  Boyle,  October,  1677,  Mr.  Eliot 
writes  thus  ;  "  We  had  a  sachem,  of  the  great- 
est blood  in  the  country,  submitted  to  pray  to 
God,  a  little  before  the  wars.  His  name  is 
Wannalancet.  In  the  time  of  the  wars  he  fled, 
by  reason  of  the  wicked  actings  of  some  Eng- 
lish youth,  who  causelessly  and  basely  killed 
and  wounded  some  of  them.  He  was  persuad- 
ed to  come  in  again.  But,  the  English  having 
ploughed  and  sown  with  rye  all  their  lands, 
they  had  but  little  corn  to  subsist  by." 

The  Christian  Indians  from  Punkapog,*  on 
some    slight   pretence,  were  removed  to  Deer 

#  Stoughton. 

Aa2 


282  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Island,  as  others  had  been  from  various  places. 
The  whole  number  of  those  now  collected  there 
amounted  to  about  five  hundred.  They  were 
necessarily  exposed  to  much  suffering.  To- 
wards the  end  of  December,  1675,  Gookin, 
Eliot,  and  others  visited  them  several  times  to 
cheer  them  under  their  trials.  They  found 
these  objects  of  their  benevolent  care  uniform- 
ly patient  and  humble,  never  disposed  to  mur- 
mur at  the  treatment  they  had  received,  and 
exhibiting  in  their  whole  temper  much  of  the 
spirit  of  practical  Christianity.  Such  is  the 
testimony  of  Gookin;  and,  however  inclined 
he  might  be  to  look  on  the  favorable  side  of 
the  case,  he  was  certainly  too  conscientious  to 
overstate  their  merits  purposely,  and  too  sa- 
gacious to  be  much  deceived.  Must  not  a 
great  part  of  their  Christian  deportment  un- 
der suffering  be  ascribed  to  the  affectionate 
instruction  and  powerful  influence  of  Mr 
Eliot  ? 

Wherever  the  Christian  Indians  were  found, 
they  seem  to  have  been  considered  as  fair  prey 
by  the  English  soldiers.  Some  of  them,  who 
belonged  to  Hassanamesit,  with  their  religious 
teacher,  had  been  taken  prisoners  by  the  ene- 
my. These  men  had  endeavored  to  effect  an  es- 
cape, and  so  far  succeeded  as  to  get  away  from 
the  enemy's  quarters.  They  were  wandering 
in  the  woods,  when  they  were  met  by  a   party 


JOHN     ELIOT.  283 

of  scouts  under  the  command  of  Captain  Gibbs, 
who  plundered  them  of  the  few  things  they 
had,  and  among  the  rest  of  a  pewter  cup,  which 
Mr.  Eliot  had  formerly  given  them  to  be  used 
in  the  communion  service,  and  which  the  In- 
dian teacher  had  religiously  preserved.  The 
Captain  took  them  to  General  Savage,  the  com- 
manding officer,  who  did  all  in  his  power  to 
protect  them.  But  they  were  afterwards  ex- 
posed to  much  cruel  treatment.  The  Indian 
teacher,  with  his  aged  father  and  several  chil- 
dren, was  sent  to  Boston.  There  they  were 
kindly  entertained  by  a  friend,  at  whose  house 
Mr.  Eliot  met  them,  and  gave  them  much  con- 
solation and  good  advice.  They  were  after- 
wards sent  to  Deer  Island. 

In  the  summer  of  the  same  year,  a  consider- 
able number  of  the  Christian  natives  were  em- 
ployed in  the  army  against  Philip.  Perhaps 
the  popular  sentiment  against  them  had  by  this 
time  become  somewhat  softened.  At  any  rate 
the  government  were  determined  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  aid  of  these  men  ;  and  the  confi- 
dence reposed  in  them  was  not  misplaced. 
They  proved  good  soldiers,  true  to  the  English 
interest,  brave,  adroit,  and  adventurous.  "  I 
contend,"  says  Gookin,  "  that  the  small  com- 
pany of  our  Indian  friends  have  taken  and 
slain  of  the  enemy,  in  the  summer  of  1676,  not 
less  than  four  hundred ;  and  their  fidelity  and 


284  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

courage  are  testified  by  the  certificates  of  their 
captains."  Their  acquaintance  with  the  In- 
dian modes  of  movement  and  fighting  rendered 
them  a  very  efficient  part  of  the  army.  When 
the  strongest  and  best  of  their  number  were 
thus  withdrawn  from  the  island,  the  rest,  who 
were  either  women  or  old  and  feeble  men,  suf- 
fered much  from  the  want  of  provisions  and 
of  proper  care. 

Soon  after  this  the  General  Court  gave  per- 
mission for  their  removal  from  the  islands,* 
taking  care,  however,  to  provide  that  it  should 
be  done  without  any  expense  to  the  colony. 
They  were  accordingly  removed,  under  the 
superintendence  of  Gookin,  at  the  charge  of 
the  corporation  in  England.  They  were  taken 
to  Cambridge,  where  Mr.  Thomas  Oliver  offered 
them  a  residence  for  the  present  on  his  landsr 
near  Charles  River.  Here  they  found  a  con- 
venient place  for  fishing.  Many  of  them  were 
very  ill,  some  dangerously  so,  at  the  time  of 
their  removal.  The  assiduous  and  never- 
wearied  charity  of  Eliot  and  Gookin  was  called 
into  constant  exercise.  They  took  means  to 
provide  the  Indians  wTith  wholesome  food,  and 
with  such  care  and  medicines,  as  their  sickness 


*  It  appears  from  Gookin,  that  many  of  the  Indians,  at 
this  time,  were  on  Long  Island,  in  Boston  harbour,  while 
others,  as  before  mentioned,  occupied  Deer  Island. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  285 

required.     By  this  kind  attention  most  of  them 
recovered. 

Philip,  the  white  man's  dreaded  enemy,  was 
now  dead,  and  probably  the  feeling  of  hostil- 
ity to  the  Praying  Indians  lost  much  of  its 
heat.  Before  winter  they  removed  from  their 
residence  in  Cambridge.  Some  settled  about 
the  falls  of  Charles  River,  and  some  stationed 
themselves  at  Nonantum,  the  spot  where  thirty 
years  before  Mr.  Eliot  had  first  preached  the 
Gospel  to  the  natives.  Here  one  of  their 
teachers,  named  Anthony,  built  a  large  wigwam, 
in  which  the  meetings  for  lectures  were  held, 
and  a  school  kept  during  the  winter.  Mr.  Eliot 
preached  to  them  once  a  fortnight  at  the  place, 
in  which  he  began  his  course  of  pious  useful- 
ness, and  which  must  have  awakened  in  his 
mind  the  most  interesting  associations.  He 
also  lectured  to  another  set  of  Indians,  who  had 
been  brought  from  one  of  the  islands,  and  were 
settled  near  Brush  Hill  in  Milton.  The  aged 
and  the  widows  among  the  Christian  natives 
were  supplied  with  clothing  and  all  other  ne- 
cessary commodities,  at  the  expense  of  the  Eng- 
lish corporation.  By  the  aid  of  this  charity, 
and  by  the  venison  and  fish  the  men  were  able 
to  procure,  the  settlements  were  comfortably 
supported.  Winter  being  past,  most  of  the 
Praying  Indians  returned  to  their  old  settle- 
ments at  Natick  and  at  the  other  plantations. 


286  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

On  one  occasion,  when  a  court  was  held  and 
Mr.  Eliot  had  lectured  to  a  large  assembly  of 
the  Praying  Indians,  Waban  made  a  speech  in 
the  name  of  the  rest,  which  must  have  been 
very  gratifying  to  their  English  friends.  It 
was  full  of  simple  piety,  humility,  and  thank- 
fulness. The  Indian  orator  acknowledged  with 
deep  feeling  the  kindness  of  the  corporation 
in  England,  and  of  their  friends  in  Massachu- 
setts, touched  lightly  upon  the  sufferings  they 
had  lately  experienced,  and  rejoiced  that  his 
brethren  had  been  enabled  by  their  good  con- 
duct, as  soldiers,  to  gain  so  much  favor  and 
acceptance.  Gookin  replied  to  this  speech  in 
a  few  plain,  affectionate,  and  pious  remarks, 
assuring  them  of  continued  friendship,  and  ex- 
horting them  to  bear  their  cross  wisely  and 
meekly. 

The  consequences  of  the  war  with  Philip  in- 
flicted a  disastrous  blow  on  the  progress  of 
Christianity  among  the  Indians,  from  which  it 
never  entirely  recovered.  Many  of  their  vil- 
lages were  broken  up  ;  and  a  feeling  of  dis- 
couragement weakened  those  that  remained. 
How  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  The  friendly  sen- 
timent so  necessary  to  the  successful  diffusion 
of  religion,  especially  among  rude  minds,  had 
just  grown  warm,  and  was  beginning  to  ce- 
ment a  bond  of  moral  union  between  the  untu- 
tored   men  of    the   forest    and    their    civilized 


JOHN     ELIOT.  287 

neighbors,  when  it  was  suddenly  sundered  by 
the  strong  passions,  that  sprung  from  the  heat 
of  a  terrific  warfare.  After  this  rupture,  it 
was  a  hard  work  to  reunite  sympathies,  which 
were  broken  before  they  had  time  to  coalesce 
firmly.  There  would  be  bitter  remembrances, 
which  might  be  smothered,  but  could  hardly 
fail  to  throw  a  chill  upon  the  persuasions  of 
the  English  Christians. 

These  effects  of  Philip's  war  unhappily  oc- 
curred at  a  time,  when  the  civil  and  religious 
improvements  among  the  Praying  Indians 
were  new,  and,  being  at  best  but  feebly  estab- 
lished, were  ill  prepared  for  such  a  shock.  If 
the  sense  of  wrong  did  not  rankle  in  the  minds 
of  the  natives,  they  must  at  least  have  felt,  that, 
in  case  of  any  emergency,  they  were  powerless 
and  insecure ;  and  if  the  pointed  remark  of 
Tacitus,  thaUit  is  the  disposition  of  mankind 
to  hate  those  whom  they  have  injured,*  be  as 
true  as  it  is  sad,  many  of  the  Massachusetts 
people  could  entertain  but  little  kindness  for 
their  fellow-men  of  the  woods. 


*  "  Proprium  humani  ingenii  est,  odisse  quem  lessens." 
—  De  Vitd  Agricola,  42.  Seneca  ascribes  the  same  dispo- 
sition peculiarly  to  those,  who  are  inflated  with  power  and 
fortune;  "Hoc  habent  pessimum  animi  magna  fortuna  in- 
solentes ;  quos  lseserunt  et  oderunt."  —  De  Ird,  II.  33. 


AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER   XV, 

Eliot' 's  "Harmony  of  the  Gospels" — Information 
gathered  from  his-  Letters  to  Robert  Boyle.  — 
JSotice  of  him  by  John  Dunton  and  Increase 
Mather.  —  Indian  Teacher  ordained  at  Natick. 
—  Remarks   on   Eliot's   Labors  among  the  In- 


Amidst  all  the  cares,  with  which  the  hands 
and  the  heart  of  Mr.  Eliot  were  full,  his  pen 
was  not  idle  even  in  old  age.  In  1678,  he  pub- 
lished The  Harmony  of  the  Gospels  in  the  holy 
History  of  the  Humiliation  and  Sufferings  of  Je- 
sus Christ  from  his  Incarnation  to  his  Death  and 
Burial*  The  beginning  of  the  title  might 
mislead  the  expectations  of  a  reader  at  the 
present  day.  It  is  not  what  would  now  be 
called  a  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  but  rather  a 
Life  of  the  Savior,  presenting  a  connected 
view  of  the  events  recorded  in  the  evangeli- 
cal history,  with  few  comments  of  a  critical  na- 
ture, but  with  many  illustrative  and  practical 
remarks.     It   breathes  a  deep  spirit  of  piety ; 


*  This  is  a  closely  printed  volume  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-one  pages,  from  the  press  of  John  Foster,  the  first 
printer  in  Boston. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  289 

and  the  style  has  the  unction,  energy,  and  fer- 
vent simplicity  imparted  by  such  a  spirit.  Its 
theological  character  is  what  might  be  ex- 
pected from  the  author's  religious  opinions, 
and  those  of  his  times.  Of  these,  different 
estimates  would  be  formed  by  different  read- 
ers, according  to  their  habits  of  thinking  on 
these  subjects.  The  volume  is  free  from  po- 
lemical bitterness,  and  presents  a  valuable 
specimen  of  the  manner  of  treating  the  topics 
connected  with  the  history  of  Jesus,  by  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  of  the  early  divines 
of  New  England. 

By  the  occasional  letters  of  Mr.  Eliot  to 
Robert  Boyle,  between  1670  and  1688,  we  are 
made  acquainted  with  some  of  the  subjects, 
which  occupied  his  thoughts  at  that  time.  He 
sometimes  mentions  facts,  which  he  supposed 
might  interest  Mr.  Boyle,  as  a  philosophical  in- 
quirer into  nature.  He  relates,  for  instance, 
the  great  mortality  among  the  fish  in  Fresh 
Pond,  which  took  place  in  the  summer  of  1670,* 
and  the  increase   of  the   disease  of  the    stone 


*  Hubbard  assigns  this  event  to  the  summer  of  1676. 
(General  History,  p.  648.)  Mr.  Eliot  says  the  fish  thrust 
themselves  out  of  the  water  on  the  shore,  as  fast  as  possi- 
ble, and  there  died.  Not  less  than  twenty  cart-loads  lay 
dead  around  the  pond.  Hubbard  remarks,  "  It  was  con- 
ceived to  be  the  effect  of  some  mineral  vapor,  that  at  that 
time  had  made  an  irruption  into  the  water." 

VOL.  V.  19  B  B 


290  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

among  both  the  English  and  Indians,  the  cause 
of  which  he  thought  he  had  discovered. 

In  speaking  of  the  disturbance  occasioned, 
and  the  losses  sustained,  by  the  war  with  the 
eastern  Indians,  he  remarks,  that  the  colonists 
had  learned  by  experience  "  the  vanity  of  mili- 
tary skill  after  the  European  mode,"  in  their 
encounters  with  the  savages.  "  Now,"  he 
adds,  "  we  are  glad  to  learn  the  skulking  way 
of  war."  *  He  alludes  also  to  the  disasters 
suffered  from  the  incursions  of  the  fierce  Mo- 
hawks, a  narrative  of  which  Gookin  had  drawn 
up,  and  presented  to  Lord  Culpepper  and  Sir 
Edmund  Andros.  A  copy  of  this  narrative 
was  to  be  sent  to  Mr.  Boyle. 

Information  concerning  the  second  edition 
of  the   Indian  Bible,  while   it  was  in  process, 

*  It  cost  the  English  some  time  and  a  good  deal  of  care- 
ful attention  to  understand  and  meet  the  insidious  mode  of 
Indian  warfare.  At  first,  Gookin  informs  us,  they  "  thought 
easily  to  chastise  the  insolent  doings  and  murderous  prac 
tices  of  the  heathens.  But  it  was  found  another  manner 
of  thing  than  was  expected  ;  for  our  men  could  see  no  en- 
emy to  shoot  at,  but  yet  felt  their  bullets  out  of  the  thick 
bushes,  where  they  lay  in  ambushments.  The  enemy  also 
used  this  stratagem,  to  apparel  themselves  from  the  waist 
upward  with  green  boughs,  that  our  Englishmen  could  not 
readily  discern  them,  or  distinguish  them  from  the  natural 
bushes.  This  manner  of  fighting  our  men  had  little  expe- 
rience of,  and  hence  were  under  great  disadvantages."  — 
Historical  Account,  fyc.  Captain  Church  discovered  some 
of  the  principles,  which  the  savages  observed  in  their  crafty 


JOHN     ELIOT.  291 

is  frequently  given  in  these  letters.  Mr.  Boyle 
had  sent  a  number  of  English  Bibles,  for  which 
Eliot  returns  his  cordial  thanks,  but  reminds 
his  honored  correspondent,  that  to  have  the 
Scriptures  in  their  own  tongue  was  the  great 
want  of  the  Indians.  He  says,  "  Our  Praying 
Indians,  both  in  the  islands  and  on  the  main, 
are  considered  together  numerous  ;  thousands 
of  souls,  of  whom  some  are  believers,  some 
learners,  and  some  still  infants  ;  and  all  of 
them  beg,  cry,  entreat  for  Bibles,  having  al- 
ready enjoyed  that  blessing,  but  now  are  in 
great  want." 

It  had  been  a  source  of  deep  grief  to  Mr. 
Eliot,  that  many  of  the  Indians  captured  dur- 
ing the  wars  were  sold  into  slavery.  He 
regarded  this  practice  with  that  indignant  ab- 
horrence, which   it    ought    to    excite    in    every 


mode  of  fighting.  He  "inquired  of  some  of  the  Indians 
that  were  become  his  soldiers,  how  they  got  such  advan- 
tage, often,  of  the  English  in  their  marches  through  the 
woods.  They  told  him,  that  the  Indians  gained  great  ad- 
vantage of  the  English  by  two  things ;  they  always  took 
care,  in  their  marches  and  fights,  not  to  come  too  thick  to- 
gether, but  the  English  always  kept  in  a  heap  together,  so 
that  it  was  as  easy  to  hit  them  as  to  hit  a  house.  The 
other  was,  that,  if  at  any  time  they  discovered  a  company 
of  English  soldiers  in  the  woods,  they  knew  that  there 
were  all,  for  the  English  never  scattered ;  but  the  Indians 
always  divided  and  scattered."  —  Church's  History  of 
Philip's  War,  Drake's  edition,  p.  108. 


292  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Christian  bosom.  He  remonstrated  warmly 
against  the  iniquity ;  but  the  temper  of  the 
times,  in  respect  to  the  Indians,  was  but  little 
inclined  to  listen  to  reason  or  humanity. 

By  a  letter,  written  in  1683,  it  appears,  that 
he  was  on  the  watch  for  an  opportunity  to  re- 
lieve some  of  those,  who  had  suffered  in  this 
way.  He  informs  Mr.  Boyle,  that  a  vessel  had 
formerly  carried  away  a  number  of  these  cap- 
tives to  be  sold  for  slaves,  but  that  "  the  na- 
tions whither  she  went  would  not  buy  them." 
She  had  afterwards  left  them  at  Tangier,  and 
Mr.  Eliot  had  heard  of  them  through  an  Eng- 
lishman, who  had  lately  come  from  that  place. 
He  entreats  Mr.  Boyle  to  use  his  mediation  for 
their  deliverance,  so  that  they  might  be  re- 
stored to  their  homes,  either  by  a  direct  pas- 
sage to  New  England,  or  by  being  sent  to 
England  and  thence  to  America.  He  presses 
this  matter  with  all  the  earnestness  of  a  benev- 
olent heart,  and  says  of  the  effort  for  the  res- 
cue of  these  men,  which  he  requests  Mr.  Boyle 
to  make,  "  I  am  persuaded,  that  Christ  will  at 
the  great  day  reckon  it  among  your  deeds  of 
charity  done  for  his  name's  sake."  Whether 
the  application  was  successful,  I  have  not  been 
able  to  discover.  This  noble  spirit  of  human- 
ity, this  strong  sense  of  justice,  on  behalf  of 
the  oppressed  and  the  wronged,  when  pub- 
lic  sensibility   was   dead  on   the   subject,  does 


JOHN     ELIOT.  293 

great  honor  to  Eliot's  character.  However 
they  might  be  despised  or  forgotten  by  others, 
in  him  they  found  a  true  and  fearless  friend.* 

Mr.  Boyle  had  requested  a  particular  account 
of  the  Praying  Indians.  Eliot's  reply  was 
written  in  1684,  and  gives  a  brief  statement 
of  their  condition  at  that  time.  Since  Philip's 
war,  the  stated  places  in  Massachusetts,  wThere 
the  natives  met  for  worship  and  religious  in- 
struction, had  been  reduced  to  four.f  Occa- 
sional meetings  were  held  in  other  places,  when 
they  came  together  in  large  numbers  to  fish, 
hunt,  or  gather  chestnuts. 

*  Speaking  of  the  fate  of  Philip's  wife  and  son,  Mr.  Ev- 
erett says,  "They  were  sold  into  slavery,  —  West  Indian 
slavery  !  an  Indian  princess  and  her  child  sold  from  the 
cool  breezes  of  Mount  Hope,  from  the  wild  freedom  of  a 
New  England  forest,  to  gasp  under  the  lash,  beneath  the 
blazing  sun  of  the  tropics  !  '  Bitter  as  death  ; '  ay,  bitter 
as  hell !  Is  there  any  thing,  I  do  not  say  in  the  range  of 
humanity,  —  is  there  any  thing  animated,  that  would  not 
struggle  against  this  ?  "  —  Address  at  Bloody  Brook,  p.  28. 
Well  may  we  add,  in  the  language  of  a  poem,  which  has 
many  striking  beauties, 

"  Ah  !  happier  they,  who  in  the  strife 
For  freedom  fell,  than  o'er  the  main, 
Those  who  in  slavery's  galling  chain 
Still  bore  the  load  of  hated  life,  — 
Bowed  to  base  tasks  their  generous  pride, 
And  scourged  and  broken-hearted  died  !  " 

Yamoyden,  Canto  I.  10. 

\  These  were  Natick  and  the  towns  now  called  Stough 
ton,  Tewksbury,  and  Dudley 

Bb2 


294  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

A  new  assistant  in  the  work  had  been  re- 
ceived in  the  person  of  Gookin's  son,  a  pious 
and  learned  man,  thirty-three  years  of  age, 
who  had  been  eight  years  "  a  fellow  of  the  col- 
lege." He  was  settled  in  the  ministry  at  Sher- 
burne, and  once  a  month  gave  a  lecture  at  Na- 
tick,  which  was  communicated  to  the  Indians 
by  an  interpreter.  Mr.  Gookin  was  learning 
the  language  of  the  natives,  that  he  might 
preach  to  them  with  more  efficiency.  The  heart 
of  the  aged  Eliot  must  have  been  gladdened, 
as  he  was  soon  to  be  gathered  to  his  fathers, 
to  see  the  cause  sustained  by  the  youthful  arm 
of  the  son  of  his  beloved  friend. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  one  of  Eliot's 
letters  to  Mr.  Boyle  is  dated  "  August  29th, 
1686,  in  the  third  month  of  our  overthrow."  This 
expression  is  presumed  to  refer  to  the  change 
in  the  government  of  the  colonies  by  the  dis- 
solution of  the  charters  and  to  the  appointment 
of  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  as  Governor-General 
of  New  England.  The  people  felt  it  to  be  in- 
deed a  season  of  "  overthrow."  A  deep  senti- 
ment of  indignation  and  alarm  pervaded  the 
community.  They  could  no  longer  choose  their 
own  governors,  but  were  compelled  to  take 
such  as  the  royal  authority  designated.  The 
accession  of  James  the  Second  to  the  throne  of 
England  they  believed  to  be  the  signal  for  op- 
pression and  tyranny ;   and  the  conduct  of  the 


JOHN     ELIOT.  295 

new  governor  soon  justified  their  fears.  Mr. 
Eliot  begins  his  letter  with  saying,  "  I  have 
nothing  new  to  write  but  lamentations."  This 
was  an  expression  of  the  general  feeling  of  the 
country. 

Eliot's  last  letter  to  Mr.  Boyle,  in  which, 
being  eighty-four  years  old,  he  says  with  af- 
fecting simplicity,  "  I  am  drawing  home,  and 
am  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  take  my  leave  of 
your  Honor  with  all  thankfulness,"  expresses 
a  hope  of  the  revival  of  the  Christian  cause 
among  the  natives.  It  is  pleasant  to  find,  that 
the  light  of  hope  sometimes  fell  upon  the  last 
days  of  the  venerable  evangelist,  instead  of 
the  sadness  which  would  have  darkened  them, 
could  he  have  looked  into  the  future,  and  seen 
that  those  for  whom  he  labored  were  doomed 
to  vanish  before  the  white  man,  instead  of 
sharing  with  him  the  blessings  of  civilization 
and  Christianity. 

Among  those  who  have  recorded  their  notice 
of  Mr.  Eliot  and  his  doings,  should  be  men- 
tioned that  amusing  bookseller  and  writer, 
John  Dunton,  who  visited  New  England  in 
1685.  He  bears  a  full  testimony  to  the  good 
effects  of  the  apostle's  labors  for  the  Indians. 
"  I  have  been  an  eyewitness,"  he  affirms,  "of 
the  wonderful  success,  which  the  Gospel  of 
peace  has  had  amongst  them.  Their  manners 
became  less  barbarous  ;  they  formed  themselves 


296  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

into   more  regular   societies,  and  began  to  live 
after  the  English  fashion."  * 

Increase  Mather  wrote  a  letter  in  1687  to 
Leusden,  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Utrecht,  in  which  he  presents  a 
sketch  of  the  progress  and  condition"  of  the 
converted  Indians,  and  of  course  makes  favor- 
able mention  of  Mr.  Eliot.f  But  there  is  little 
to  be  gathered  from  it  in  addition  to  what  we 
learn  from  other  sources.  With  regard  to  the 
religious  language  used  by  the  Indians,  the 
writer  makes  the  following  remark ;  "  Before 
the  English  came  into  these  coasts,  these  bar- 
barous natives  were  altogether  ignorant  of  the 
true  God ;  hence  it  is,  that  in  their  prayers  and 
sermons  they  use  English  words  and  terms  ;  he 
that  calls  upon  the  most  holy  name  of  God, 
says  Jehovah,  or  God,  or  Lord)  and  also  they 
have  learned  and  borrowed  many  other  theo- 
logical phrases  from  us."  This  was  naturally 
the  expedient,  which  a  people  would  adopt, 
when  the  ideas  they  wished  to  embody  in 
words,  being  in  some  respects  new  to  them, 
could  find  no  precise  expression  in  their  own 
tongue.  With  the  new  religion  they  would 
necessarily  learn  some  new  words,  and  inter 
weave  them  with  their  own  phraseology.    When 

#  See  Dunton's  Life  and  Errors,  Vol.  I.  pp.  115-122. 
f  See  Cotton  Mather's  Life  of  Eliot,  in  the  Magnalia, 
Part  III. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  297 

Increase  Mather  wrote  this  letter,  Mr.  Eliot 
was  bowed  under  the  weight  of  eighty-three 
years ;  yet  he  still  preached  to  his  Indian  dis- 
ciples as  often  as  once  in  two  months. 

An  Indian  teacher,  whose  name  was  Daniel 
Takawombpait,  was  ordained  at  Natick.  Mr. 
Eliot  had  an  agency  in  his  ordination ;  but  at 
what  time  this  took  place,  we  do  not  learn.  It 
must,  however,  have  been  before  the  summer  of 
1687  ;  for  by  the  above-mentioned  letter  of  In- 
crease Mather,  of  that  date,  it  appears  that  this 
man  was  then  in  the  pastoral  office.  He  died 
on  the  17th  of  September,  1716,  aged  sixty- 
four  years.  A  humble  grave-stone  marked  the 
spot  where  he  was  interred.  It  is  now  stand- 
ing, as  one  of  the  lower  stones  in  a  wall,  which 
runs  across  his  grave  by  the  road  near  the 
meeting-house  in  South  Natick.  The  Indians 
of  Natick  have  entirely  disappeared  in  the 
progress  of  years.  It  is  unnecessary  here  to 
give  the  history,  or  to  investigate  the  causes, 
of  their  decay,*  which  is  indeed  but  one  item 
in  the  general  story  of  the  wasting  of  the  abo- 
riginals. At  the  present  day,  one  miserable 
hut,  or  wigwam,  inhabited  by  three  or  four  of 
mingled  Indian  and  Negro  blood,  is  the  only 
remnant   of   a   settlement,    which    its    founder 


*  On  this  subject  see  the  statements  in  the  Reverend 
Stephen  Badger's  letter  in  1  M.  H.  Coll.,  V.  33-45. 


298  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

hoped    would   prove    a   seminary   of  Christian 
and  social  blessings  for  the  natives  of  our  land. 

I  have  now  brought  to  a  close  the  account  of 
Mr.  Eliot's  persevering  efforts  for  the  civil  and 
religious  improvement  of  the  Indians.  The 
story  might  be  enlarged  ;  but  I  hope  enough 
has  been  presented  to  give  a  correct  concep- 
tion of  the  task,  on  which  this  good  man  spent 
so  large  a  portion  of  his  days  and  his  strength. 

It  seems  impossible  for  any  candid  mind  to 
doubt  the  purity  of  the  motives,  by  which  Mr. 
Eliot  was  excited  to  engage  in  this  Christian 
enterprise.  If  we  may  trust  the  evidence  of  his 
conduct,  and  of  all  testimonies  concerning  him, 
he  was  a  man  distinguished  by  singleness  of 
heart,  one  wTho  listened  to  the  voice  of  duty  as 
the  voice  of  God.  No  one  could  be  less  likely  to 
make  cunning  calculations  of  personal  interest 
in  any  undertaking ;  for  he  had  the  guileless 
simplicity  of  a  child,  as  well  as  the  firmness 
of  a  tried  Christian.  What  inducement,  but 
the  hearty  love  of  doing  good,  could  have  sent 
him  forth  on  an  errand  of  mercy,  which  pre- 
sented no  attractions,  except  such  as  the  Chris- 
tian sees  in  every  proposal  for  advancing  the 
welfare  of  his  fellow-men? 

The  design  seems  to  have  sprung  up  amidst 
the  silent  workings  of  his  own  mind.  No  voice 
of  invitation  or  encouragement,  at  the  first, 
came  to  him  from  without.    No  eloquent  appeal 


JOHN     ELIOT.  299 

to  his  piety  or  his  compassion  was  made  by 
others.  No  one  had  gone  before  him  in  the 
enterprise,  and  returned  to  tell  the  story  of  the 
red  man's  wants,  and  to  rouse  the  white  man 
to  supply  them.  He  hearkened  in  silence  to 
the  admonition  within  his  breast,  which  he  re- 
vered "  as  God's  most  intimate  presence  in  the 
soul,"  and  which  told  him,  that  a  work  of  be- 
nevolence must  be  performed  for  the  neglected 
and  forlorn  barbarians.  He  went  forth  to  per- 
form it  amidst  discouragements  and  obstacles, 
which  were  ever  driving  back  his  spirit  on  the 
resources  of  faith  ;  amidst  suffering,  danger, 
and  personal  exposure,  which  were  ever  mak- 
ing large  demands  on  his  power  of  endurance. 
No  trace  of  spiritual  ambition,  no  mark  of 
self-complacency,  no  word  of  vanity  appears 
in  the  whole  course  of  the  labors  of  more  than 
forty  years.  He  cared  not  who  had  the  praise, 
so  the  work  of  God  were  done.  There  have 
been  achievements  more  brilliant  than  his ; 
there  have  been  enterprises  more  susceptible 
of  attractive  embellishment  in  the  description 
than  his  ;  but  none  more  unequivocally  marked 
with  the  spirit  of  Christian  disinterestedness. 
We  cannot  hesitate  to  yield  a  full  assent  to  the 
testimony  of  Gookin,  when  he  affirms,  that 
"Mr.  Eliot  engaged  in  this  great  work  of 
preaching  unto  the  Indians  upon  a  very  pure, 
and  sincere  account." 


300  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Nor  can  it  be  denied,  that  the  manner,  in 
which  he  discharged  his  difficult  duty,  was 
wise  and  judicious.  No  fanatical  impulse,  no 
irrational  expectation,  carried  him  headlong 
without  regard  to  circumstances.  He  weighed 
well  the  nature  of  the  undertaking.  He  sought 
to  deal  with  the  savage,  as  with  a  benighted 
brother,  who  must  be  taken  by  the  hand  like  a 
child,  and  be  led  by  winning  means  to  feel  his 
want  of  a  better  state,  till  he  should  rejoice  to 
have  the  want  supplied.  No  man  was  ever 
more  devoted  to  a  task,  than  Mr.  Eliot  to  his  ; 
but  it  was  a  devotedness  regulated  by  good 
sense  and  by  the  true  spirit  of  faith.  He  en- 
deavored to  secure  a  lodgment  for  the  truths  of 
the  Gospel,  not  by  inculcating  abstract  ideas  on 
the  mind  of  the  Indian,  nor  by  leading  it  darkly 
along  a  chain  of  reasoning,  which  it  could  not 
grasp,  but  by  plain  and  easy  expositions  of  the 
facts  and  teachings  of  Scripture,  and  by  famil- 
iar illustrations  of  elementary  truths,  borrowed 
from  objects  or  ideas  to  which  his  hearers  were 
accustomed. 

We  have  seen  how  much  importance  he 
ascribed  to  the  mechanical  arts,  as  well  as  to 
schools,  in  bringing  the  natives  to  a  better 
condition,  and  how  desirous  he  was  to  make 
his  Indians  good  farmers  and  good  artisans,  as 
well  as  good  Christians.  He  understood  and 
practised  upon  the  true  doctrine  on  this   sub- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  301 

ject,  that  judicious  modes  of  civilization  and 
of  social  improvement  must  proceed  simulta- 
neously with  such  simple  forms  of  religious  in- 
struction, as  are  adapted  to  the  mental  condi- 
tion of  the  catechumens.  There  were  errors 
and  mistakes  in  Mr.  Eliot's  manner  of  proceed- 
ing, as  there  have  been  in  all  similar  enter- 
prises ;  but,  on  the  whole,  there  are  few,  if 
any,  better  models  of  missionary  effort,  than 
that  which  his  history  presents.  It  has  been 
said,  probably  without  exaggeration,  that  Mr. 
Eliot  was  the  most  successful  missionary  that 
ever  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  Indians. 

The  question  has  been,  and  will  be  again, 
asked,  What  after  all  was  the  use  of  this  diffi- 
cult effort,  this  hard  toil  ?  Was  it  not  a  wasted 
labor  ?  Were  the  Indians  benefited,  or  was 
Christianity  planted  with  an  abiding  power  in 
their  wigwams  and  villages  ?  Did  not  the 
whole  disappear,  like  the  snow-wreath  iD  the 
sun  ?  These  questions  are  sometimes  put  in  a 
sneering  and  contemptuous  spirit,  which  be- 
comes neither  the  Christian  nor  the  philoso- 
pher.* If  the  natives  of  our  forests  derived 
no  permanent  benefit  from  the  exertions  of  Mr. 
Eliot  and  others,  let  it  be  remembered,  that 
these  natives  vanished  from  among  men,  before 

*  See  the  flippant  remarks  of  Douglass  ;  Summary 
Historical  and  Political,  Vol.  I.  p.  172. 

Cc 


302  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

the  experiment  could  be  tried  on  a  large  scale, 
and  for  many  successive  years.  They  dwin- 
dled away  in  presence  of  the  ever-restless  en- 
terprise of  the  New  England  settlers;  and 
well  might  they  say  of  "  the  pale  race  "  around 
them, 

"They  waste  us, —  ay,  like  April  snow- 
In  the  warm  noon,  we  shrink  away ; 
And  fast  they  follow,  as  we  go 
Towards  the  setting-  day,  — 
Till  they  shall  fill  the  land,  and  we 
Are  driven  into  the  western  sea." 

I  do  not  say  that  blame  is  necessarily  to  be  at- 
tached to  those,  by  whom  they  were  crowded 
out ;  for,  the  world  over,  it  is,  and  has  been, 
generally  a  law  of  human  progress,  that  civil- 
ized man  must  overtop  and  displace  uncivilized 
man.  But  I  say,  that  it  ill  becomes  us,  who 
have  taken  possession  of  the  broad  and  fair 
lands  of  New  England,  to  ask  in  derision, 
what  was  the  use  of  all  the  Christian  zeal  dis- 
played in  behalf  of  the  race  that  once  roamed 
over  our  hills  and  plains,  when  we  recollect 
that  they  disappeared,  to  make  room  for  us, 
too  soon  for  the  great  and  final  results  of  that 
zeal  to  be  fairly  unfolded. 

But  tfie  question  may  be  asked,  on  the  other 
hand,  Was  there  no  good  done  ?  It  is  true, 
indeed,  that  both  the  red  man  and  his  Christi- 
anity, such  as  it  was,  vanished  ere  long  from 
the  roll  of  existing  things.     But  while  he  re- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  303 

mained,  did  the  religion,  which  he  had  re- 
ceived, do  nothing  for  him  ?  True,  it  was  a 
very  imperfect  and  rude  exercise  of  faith  ;  his 
conceptions  of  what  he  had  learned  under  the 
name  of  Christianity  were,  as  we  should  ex- 
pect, coarse  and  narrow.  But  was  even  such 
a  form  of  moral  life  useless  to  him  ?  God  has 
endowed  spiritual  truth  with  a  power,  which, 
when  it  has  once  found  its  way  to  the  heart, 
cannot  be  wholly  suppressed  or  extinguished 
by  any  rudeness  of  apprehension,  or  any  pov- 
erty of  knowledge. 

"  Who  the  line 
Shall  draw,  the  limits  of  the  power  define, 
That  even  imperfect  faith  to  man  affords?  " 

I  cannot  readily  believe,  that  any  portion  of 
spiritual  culture  is  entirely  lost.  Somewhere 
and  somehow  it  has  worked,  and  will  work,  for 
good.  Even  in  the  comparatively  faint  moral 
life  kindled  among  the  Indian  settlements 
founded  by  Mr.  Eliot,  before  they  were  broken 
by  war  and  discord,  there  was  far  more  of  the 
substantial  good  that  belongs  to  man  in  his 
true  attributes,  than  among  all  the  tribes,  who 
still  roamed  in  vaunted  freedom  through  the 
forests,  unchained  by  any  restraints  of  order 
or  religion. 

But  even  if  not  one  of  the  Indians  had  been 
personally  benefited  by  the  labors  of  the  apos- 
tle Eliot,   still  those  labors,  like    every  great 


304  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

benevolent  effort,  have  answered  a  noble  pur- 
pose. They  stand  as  the  imperishable  record 
of  good  attempted  by  man  for  man ;  and  such 
a  record,  who,  that  values  the  moral  glory  of 
his  country,  will  consider  as  a  trivial  portion 
of  her  history  ?  It  constitutes  a  chapter  in  the 
annals  of  benevolence,  which  every  Christian, 
every  friend  of  man,  will  contemplate  with 
pleasure,  even  if  his  gratification  be  mingled 
with  the  sad  reflection,  that  so  much  was  done 
for  so  small  results.  When  the  settlers  of 
New  England  came  hither,  and  built  new  homes 
on  these  shores,  they  and  the  natives,  the 
stranger  emigrant  and  the  old  inhabitant,  stood 
side  by  side,  each  a  portion  of  God's  great 
family.  Had  our  fathers  never  cast  one  kind 
regard  on  these  wild  men,  had  they  never  ap- 
proached them  in  any  office  of  kindness  or 
any  manifestation  of  sympathy,  had  they  stood 
off  from  them  in  surly  or  contemptuous  indiffer- 
ence, except  when  occasion  might  serve  to 
circumvent  or  crush  them,  a  melancholy  deduc- 
tion must  have  been  made  from  the  reverence, 
with  which  every  son  of  New  England  loves  to 
regard  their  character  and  doings. 

But  it  is  not  so.  The  voice  of  Christian  af- 
fection was  spoken  to  the  savage.  The  accents 
of  pious  kindness  saluted  his  ear.  For  him 
benevolence  toiled,  and  faith  prayed,  and  wis- 
dom taught ;    and   the  red  race  did   not  pass 


JOHN      ELIOT.  305 

away,  carrying  with  them  no  remembrance  but 
that  of  defeat,  and  wrong,  and  submission  to 
overpowering  strength.  The  Christianity  of 
the  white  man  formed  a  beautiful,  though  tran- 
sient, bond  of  interest  with  them.  The  light, 
which  Eliot's  piety  kindled,  was  indeed  des- 
tined soon  to  go  out.  But  there  his  work 
stands  for  ever  on  our  records,  a  work  of  love, 
performed  in  the  spirit  of  love,  and  designed 
to  effect  the  highest  good  which  man  is  capa- 
ble of  receiving.  Nonantum  and  Natick  will 
ever  be  names  of  beautiful  moral  meaning  in 
the  history  of  New  England. 


vol.  v  20 


306  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Studies,  Preaching,  Charity,  and  General 
Habits  of  Mr.  Eliot,  during  his  Ministry  at 
Poxbury.  —  His  Family. 

While  Mr.  Eliot  was  thus  for  a  long  series 
of  years  employed  in  the  work,  which  has  been 
described,  he  had  also  been  a  faithful  and  labo- 
rious servant  of  Christ  in  the  ministry  of  his 
own  church.  Few  men  could  have  carried  on 
two  courses  of  service,  one  requiring  such  pe- 
culiar efforts,  and  both  sufficiently  arduous, 
with  so  much  fidelity  and  success.  His  minis- 
try in  Roxbury  was  of  nearly  sixty  years'  du- 
ration. For  about  thirty-four  years  of  that 
time,  he  had  the  assistance  of  colleagues  at 
different  periods  ;  but  his  own  attention  to  the 
duties  of  the  sacred  office  when  at  home,  was 
always  constant  and  devout.  When  he  began 
to  preach  to  the  Indians,  he  had  no  colleague  ; 
and  several  of  the  neighboring  ministers  occa- 
sionally assisted  him  by  attending  to  his  duties 
in  Roxbury,  while  he  was  engaged  in  a  new 
field  of  labor.  Besides  the  work  of  his  mission 
to  the  natives,  his  exertions  among  his  own 
people  were  such,  as  to  entitle  him  to  the  char- 
acter of  a  most   devoted  and  able  minister. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  307 

The  sketch  of  that  part  of  his  life,  which 
was  spent  in  these  duties,  must  necessarily  be 
a  description  of  general  habits,  rather  than  a 
narrative  of  events.  Mr.  Eliot  uniformly  pur- 
sued his  theological  studies  with  untired  zeal 
and  with  distinguished  success.  Amidst  the 
active  and  exciting  engagements,  in  which  he 
was  so  constantly  employed,  it  is  surprising, 
that  he  was  able  to  find  so  much  leisure  for 
meditation  and  learned  inquiries. 

The  original  languages  of  the  Bible  he 
studied  with  an  exact  and  persevering  dili- 
gence proportioned  to  his  reverence  for  divine 
truth.  The  Hebrew  especially  he  held  in  high 
honor.  So  great  was  his  veneration  for  this 
language,  that  he  thought  it  admirably  adapted 
to  supply  the  desideratum  of  a  Universal  Char- 
acter, the  attainment  of  which  was  a  problem 
that  exercised  the  ingenuity  of  Bishop  Wilkins 
and  other  learned  men  of  those  days.  In  a 
letter  to  Richard  Baxter,  written  in  1663,  Eliot 
introduces  this  subject.  He  affirms,  that  no 
language  is  so  well  adapted,  as  the  Hebrew,  to 
answer  the  purpose  of  "  that  long  talked  of 
and  desired  design  of  a  universal  character 
and  language."  He  quotes  Jordini  Hebreoe  Ra- 
dices, in  the  Preface  to  which  it  is  affirmed,  that 
the  Hebrew,  by  "  the  divine  artifice "  of  its 
construction,  "is  capable  of  a  regular  expatia- 
tion  into   millions  of  words."      Then,  growing 


308  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

warm  in  his  enthusiasm,  Eliot  adds,  "  It  had 
need  be  so,  for  being  the  language  which  shall 
be  spoken  in  heaven,  where  knowledge  will  be 
so  enlarged,  there  will  need  a  spacious  language  ; 
and  what  language  fitter  than  this  of  God's 
own  making  and  composure  ?  And  why  may 
we  not  make  ready  for  heaven  in  this  point,  by 
making  and  fitting  that  language,  according  to 
the  rules  of  the  divine  artifice  of  it,  to  express 
all  imaginable  conceptions  and  notions  of  the 
mind  of  man  in  all  arts  and  sciences."  *  He 
even  thinks,  that  such  a  glorious  result  is  a 
subject  of  prophecy  in  Zephaniah  iii.  9,  and 
other  passages  of  Scripture. f  Mr.  Eliot's  con- 
fidence, that  Hebrew  is  the  language  of  heaven, 
furnishes  an  amusing  specimen  of  the  whimsi- 
cal notions,  which  a  man  may  seriously  adopt 
in  the  ardor  of  a  favorite  study.  It  was  not, 
however,  peculiar  to  himself;  for  the  zeal  of 
other  Oriental  scholars  had  led  them  to  defend 
the  same  conjecture.  The  design  of  a  Univer- 
sal Character,  on  which  Mr.  Eliot  dwelt  with 
so  much  pleasure,  after  having  exercised  the 
learning  and  abilities  of  such  men  as  Wilkins, 
Dalgarno,  Leibnitz,   Becher,|  and  others,  may 

*  Reliquiae  Baxterianae,  &c,  p.  294. 

f  The  same  strain  of  remark  respecting"  the  Hebrew  oc- 
curs in  Eliot's   Communion  of  Churches,  $*e.,ch.  in.  p.  17. 

|  For  some  remarks  on  the  views  of  Leibnitz  on  this  sub- 
ject, see  the  Eloge  de  M.  Leibnitz  par  M.  de  Fontenelle; 


JOHN     ELIOT.  309 

probably  be  considered  as  having  passed  into 
the  region  of  philosophical  vagaries. 

On  the  metaphysical  questions  of  theology 
Mr.  Eliot  appears  to  have  bestowed  some 
thoughtful  attention,  if  we  may  judge  from  oc- 
casional intimations.  A  few  remarks  mani- 
festing this  propensity  occur  in  the  before- 
mentioned  letter  to  Baxter,  whose  speculations 
on  the  freedom  of  the  will  he  had  read  with 
much  satisfaction.  Having  referred  to  Genesis 
i.  26,  he  proceeds  to  remark,  "  But  what  our 
likeness  to  God  is,  is  the  question.  Why  may 
it  not  admit  this  explication,  that  one  chief 
thing  is  to  act,  like  God,  according  to  our  light 
freely,  by  choice  without  compulsion,  to  be  the 
author  of  our  own  act,  to  determine  our  own 
choice.  This  is  spontaneity  ;  the  nature  of  the 
will  lieth  in  this."  The  freedom  of  the  will, 
he  thinks,  was  not  lost  by  the  fall ;  only,  its 
energies  were  wholly  turned  to  evil.  But  what 
difference  there  can  be  between  a  constraint 
upon  the  spontaneity  of  the  will,  and  an  im- 
possibility to  act   except  in  one  direction,  that 

(Euvres  de  Fontenelle,  Tome  V.  p.  493.  An  account  of  the 
plan  of  Becher,  an  ingenious  man,  though  a  charletan,  is 
given  in  Adelung's  Geschichte  der  .Menschlichen  Narrheit, 
Vol.  I.  p.  138.  On  the  subject  of  a  philosopical  or  universal 
language,  see  Duga;ld  Stewart,  Works,  Vol.  I.  p.  i49 ;  and 
Cousin,  Cours  de  VHistoire  de  la  PhiLosophie,  Tome  IL 
pp.  311 -315. 


310  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

is,  towards  sin,  it  would  be  difficult  to  dis- 
cover. < 

In  the  same  letter  Eliot  manifests  an  inter- 
est, which  he  had  exhibited  on  other  occasions, 
in  the  progress  of  medical  science.  He  speaks 
in  terms  of  high  praise  of  the  studies  and  la- 
bors of  the  College  of  Physicians  in  London. 
"  By  the  blessing  of  God  upon  them,"  says  he, 
"  they  seem  to  me  to  design  such  a  regiment 
of  health,  and  such  an  exact  inspection  into  all 
diseases,  and  knowledge  of  all  medicaments, 
and  prudence  of  application  of  the  same,  that 
the  book  of  divine  Providence  seemeth  to  pro- 
vide for  the  lengthening  of  the  life  of  man 
again  in  this  latter  end  of  the  world,  which 
would  be  no  small  advantage  unto  all  kinds  of 
good  learning  and  government.  And  doth  not 
such  a  thing  seem  to  be  prophesied  in  Isaiah 
lxv.  20  ?  If  the  child  shall  die  one  hundred 
years  old,  of  what  age  shall  the  old  man  be  1 
But  I  would  not  be  too  bold  with  the  Holy 
Scriptures."  This  fashion  of  finding  at  pleas- 
ure predictions  in  the  Bible,  to  suit  all  occa- 
sions, wras  common  at  that  time. 

The  preaching  of  Mr.  Eliot  is  described*  as 

*  On  this  and  on  most  points  relating  to  the  ministry 
and  donestic  habits  of  the  Apostle  Eliot,  Cotton  Mather, 
who  was  his  contemporary,  and  knew  him  well,  gives  us 
more  full  and  important  information  than  any  other  writer. 
In  this  part  of  my  narrative  I  rely  chiefly  on  his  authority. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  311 

having  been  of  the  most  skilful  and  efficient 
kind.  It  was  distinguished  by  great  simplicity 
and  plainness,  "  so  that,"  says  Mather,  "  the 
very  lambs  might  wade  into  his  discourses  on 
those  texts  and  themes,  wherein  elephants 
might  swim."  *  His  manner  was  usually  gen- 
tle and  winning;  but  when  sin  was  to  be 
rebuked  or  corruption  combated,  his  voice 
swelled  into  solemn  and  powerful  energy,  and 
the  heart  of  the  transgressor  shook  as  at  the 
sound  that  rolled  from  Sinai.  On  such  occa- 
sions, there  were  "  quot  verba  tot  fulmina,  as  ma- 
ny thunderbolts  as  words." 

Carelessness  or  negligence  in  the  duties  of 
the  pulpit  he  could  not  tolerate.  He  always 
insisted,  that  sermons  should  be  prepared  with 
great  attention,  and  with  much  mental  effort, 
at  the  same  time  that  they  were  pervaded  by 
the  sanctifying  spirit  of  a  divine  influence. 
He  would  say  to  one,  whose  preaching  was  of 
this  character,  "  Brother,  there  is  oil  required 
for  the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  but  it  must  be 

*  This  striking,  but  somewhat  quaint  illustration  was  not 
original  with  Mather,  though  perhaps,  amidst  his  multifa- 
rious reading,  he  had  forgotten  whence  he  received  it. 
"  One  of  the  Fathers,"  says  Coleridge,  "  has  observed,  that 
in  the  New  Testament  there  are  shallows  where  the  lamb 
may  ford,  and  depths  where  the  elephant  must  swim."  — 
Lay  Sermon  addressed  to  the  Higher  and  Middle  Classes, 
fyc,  p.  58. 


312  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

beaten;  I  praise  God  that  your  oil  was  so  well 
beaten  to-day." 

In  the  administration  of  ecclesiastical  affairs, 
Mr.  Eliot,  like  most  of  the  ministers  at  that 
time,  was  an  advocate  for  the  rigorous  strict- 
ness of  church  discipline.  The  Congregational 
form,  which  was  the  favorite  one  in  New  Eng- 
land, he  always  loved  and  defended,  as  a  happy 
medium  between  Presbyterianism  on  the  one 
hand,  and  Brownism,  so  called,  on  the  other. 

In  children,  and  in  the  young  generally,  Mr. 
Eliot's  interest  was  strong  and  hearty.  He 
loved  them  with  a  truly  paternal  kindness ; 
and  the  efforts,  which  he  made  for  their  good, 
were  not  undertaken  in  the  mechanical  or  cold 
spirit  of  one,  who  merely  does  what  is  expected 
of  him  as  an  official  duty.  He  had  a  deep  con- 
viction of  the  importance  of  placing  religious 
influence  strongly  and  largely  among  those 
first  elements,  which  are  to  be  the  germs  of 
future  character.  He  was  thoroughly  persuad- 
ed that  the  piety,  which  takes  its  root  among 
the  pleasant  feelings  and  tender  impressions 
of  childhood,  is  likely  to  be  more  enduring, 
more  true  to  God  and  the  Savior,  than  that 
which  is  laid  upon  the  mind,  rather  than  incor- 
porated into  it,  at  a  subsequent  period,  when 
the  feeiings  have  grown  hard  and  dry. 

Mr.  Eliot  maintained  a  sympathy  with  the 
youthful   part   of  his   flock,  which   could  have 


JOHN     ELIOT.  313 

been  the  result  only  of  a  hearty  concern  for 
their  best  welfare.  This  man,  who  stood  high 
among  the  first  divines  of  his  country  and 
age,  and  whose  Christian  activity  was  ever 
going  forth  in  far-reaching  enterprises  of  piety, 
had  a  heart  for  humbler  scenes,  and  was  ever 
ready,  like  his  Master,  to  take  little  children 
into  his  arms  and  bless  them.  He  was  earnest 
in  inculcating  the  duty,  and  able  in  defending 
the  practice,  of  infant  baptism.  He  valued 
highly  the  religious  instruction  given  by  cate- 
chizing ;  a  mode  of  teaching  the  young,  to 
which  greater  relative  importance  was  ascribed 
then,  than  will  be  assigned  to  it  in  modern 
times,  when  more  varied  and  more  interesting 
means  of  conveying  religious  truth  to  the  mind 
of  the  child  are  so  generally  in  use.  "  The  care 
of  the  lambs,"  said  Mr.  Eliot,  "  is  one  third 
part  of  the  charge  over  the  church  of  God."  * 

It  was  in  the  same  spirit,  that  on  all  occa- 
sions he  pressed  the  importance  of  maintaining 
good  schools  in  the  towns  and  settlements  of 
the  colony.  It  is  related,  that  he  made  this  the 
subject  of  fervent  and  special  prayers  at  the 
meeting  of  a  synod  in  Boston.  By  his  active 
agency,  a  school  of  a  high  character  was  estab- 
lished in  Roxbury,  for  the  support  of  which  he 
bequeathed    a    considerable    part    of   his    own 

*  This  he  said  in  commenting  on  John  xxi.  15. 

Do 


314  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

property.  This  free  school  was  the  admiration 
of  the  neighboring  towns  ;  and  Mather  states, 
as  a  result  of  its  influence,  "  that  Roxbury  has 
afforded  more  scholars,  first  for  the  college,  and 
then  for  the  public,  than  any  town  of  its  big- 
ness, or,  if  I  mistake  not,  of  twice  its  bigness, 
in  all  New  England." 

There  was  no  point,  on  which  Mr.  Eliot  was 
more  earnest  in  his  exhortations,  or  more  strict 
in  his  example,  than  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath.  He  might  be  said,  indeed,  to  devote 
every  day  to  God,  by  devoting  it  to  duty.  But, 
on  the  Lord's  day,  it  was  a  matter  of  con- 
science and  of  uniform  practice  with  him  to 
consecrate  his  thoughts  by  special  exercises  to 
spiritual  communion  and  spiritual  improve- 
ment. Probably  in  the  punctilious  rigor,  with 
which  he  regulated  his  habits  in  this  respect, 
there  was  a  portion  of  the  superstitious  pre- 
cision that  belonged  to  his  times.  But  who 
can  doubt,  that  these  seasons  of  exclusive  de- 
votion to  the  duties  of  religious  abstraction 
and  meditative  piety  contributed  much  to  arm 
his  soul  with  strength  for  the  great  tasks 
of  such  a  life  as  his  ?  On  the  subject  of  the 
Sabbath  he  had  some  discussion  by  letter 
with  the  celebrated  John  Owen  of  England, 
the  most  eminent  divine  among  the  Independ- 
ents, who,  in  his  answer  to  Eliot,  lamented, 
as  one   of    the  saddest   frowns  of   Providence 


JOHN     ELIOT.  315 

towards  him,  that  he  should  have  been  so  mis- 
understood by  the  churches  and  the  ministers 
of  New  England  whom  he  loved,  as  to  be  sus- 
pected of  having  given  a  wound  to  the  cause 
of  holiness. 

Mr.  Eliot's  intercourse  with  the  people  of 
his  charge  was  a  perpetual  exhibition  of  the 
fidelity  of  a  spiritual  friend,  and  the  virtues  of 
a  benevolent,  heavenly-minded  Christian.  With 
all  his  gravity  of  character,  there  was  nothing 
stiff  in  his  deportment,  or  morose  in  his  dispo- 
sition. Social  freedom  and  innocent  hilarity 
never  fled  from  his  presence.  On  the  contrary, 
he  was  distinguished  by  that  facetious  affabili- 
ty, which  springs  naturally  from  a  contented 
and  cheerful  heart.  He  had  a  relish  for  chas- 
tened wit,  and  his  conversation  was  sprinkled 
with  its  pleasant  influence.  His  leading  aim, 
however,  in  social  intercourse,  was  to  promote 
edification.  No  man  was  more  intent  upon 
seizing  every  occasion  for  a  good  hint,  or  for 
an  apt  illustration  of  moral  and  religious  truth. 
Scarcely  a  topic  passed  him  in  conversation, 
without  being  made  to  minister  to  important 
instruction.  He  discovered  gold  where  others 
saw  only  common  stones. 

In  the  ordinary  occurrences  of  life,  and  in 
the  usual  course  of  divine  Providence,  he  had 
the  same  disposition  to  find  matter  for  fruitful 
reflection,  which  Luther  cherished  in  his  study 


316  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

of  the  Scriptures ;  *  so  that  he  was  compared 
in  his  old  age  to  Homer's  Nestor,  from  whose 
lips  dropped  words  sweeter  than  honey.  It 
was  the  frequent  remark  of  his  friends,  that 
"  they  were  never  with  him,  but  they  got,  or 
might  have  got,  some  good  from  him."  He  be- 
lieved a  life  of  duty  to  be  the  best  preparation 
for  death ;  "  for,"  said  he,  on  one  occasion, 
"  were  I  sure  to  go  to  heaven  to-morrow,  I 
would  do  what  I  am  doing  to-day."  The 
spirituality  of  his  feelings  was  ever  going 
forth  in  spontaneous  manifestations.  It  is  re- 
lated, that  when  he  once  visited  a  merchant  in 
his  counting-room,  seeing  books  of  business  on 
the  table,  and  some  books  of  devotion  laid 
away  on  a  shelf,  he  said,  "  Here,  Sir,  is  earth 
on  the  table,  and  heaven  on  the  shelf;  pray  do 
not  sit  so  much  at  the  table,  as  altogether  to 
forget  the  shelf;  let  not  earth  thrust  heaven 
out  of  your  mind."  If  the  merchant  regarded 
the  admonition  as  intrusive  and  unseasonable, 
he  doubtless  respected  the  pious  zeal  and 
apostolical  simplicity  of  the  good  man. 

In  the  performance  of  his  duties   among  his 

*  "  In  the  Bible,"  said  Luther,  "  we  have  rich  and  pre- 
cious comforts,  learnings,  admonitions,  warnings,  promises, 
and  threatenings."  And  he  added,  in  his  quaint  way, 
"  There  is  not  a  tree  in  this  orchard,  on  which  I  have  not 
knocked,  and  have  shaken  at  least  a  couple  of  apples  or 
pears  from  the  same." —  Table-Talk,  Chap.  I. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  317 

congregation  and  elsewhere,  he  was  eminently 
remarkable  for  his  free  and  self-forgetting 
bounty.  The  pecuniary  resources  of  a  New 
England  clergyman,  slender  enough  at  any 
time,  were  then  scanty  indeed.  But  Mr.  Eliot, 
in  the  unchecked  freedom  of  his  liberality, 
made  the  most  of  the  little  he  possessed,  in 
works  of  benevolence.  To  the  poor  he  gave 
with  an  open  hand,  till  all  was  gone;  and  they 
looked  to  him  as  a  father  and  a  friend.  The 
amount  of  his  personal  charities  in  this  way 
alone,  at  different  times,  was  many  hundred 
pounds.  He  did  not  wait  for  suffering  to  come 
in  his  way,  but  sought  it  out  diligently.  As 
other  men  would  search  for  hidden  treasures, 
he  searched  for  opportunities  of  raising  the 
wretched  and  relieving  the  miserable.  When 
his  own  means  were  exhausted,  he  applied  to 
those  who  were  blessed  with  abundance,  and 
begged  of  them  contributions  for  the  children 
of  want.  His  bounty,  to  be  so  profuse,  must 
sometimes  doubtless  have  been  indiscriminate 
and  injudicious.  With  a  benevolence  too  in- 
cautious, he  often  distributed  his  salary  for  the 
relief  of  others,  before  the  wants  of  his  own 
family  were  supplied. 

On  this  subject  there  is  a  well-known  anec- 
dote, which,  though  probably  familiar  to  many 
readers,  is  too  characteristic  to  be  omitted. 
When  the  parish  treasurer  was  once  about  to 

Dd2 


3 18  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

pay  him  his  salary,  or  a  portion  of  it,  knowing 
his  habitual  propensity,  he  put  it  into  a  hand- 
kerchief, which  he  tied  in  several  hard  knots, 
in  order  to  prevent  Mr.  Eliot  from  giving  it 
away  before  he  reached  home.  After  leaving 
the  treasurer,  the  benevolent  man  called  at  the 
house  of  a  family,  who  were  poor  and  sick. 
He  blessed  them,  and  told  them  God  had  sent 
relief  by  him.  His  kind  words  brought  tears 
of  gratitude  to  their  eyes.  He  immediately 
attempted  to  untie  his  handkerchief;  but  the 
knots  had  been  so  effectually  made,  that  he 
could  not  get  at  his  money.  After  several 
fruitless  efforts  to  loose  the  handkerchief, 
growing  impatient  of  the  perplexity  and  delay, 
he  gave  the  whole  to  the  mother  of  the  family, 
saying,  "  Here,  my  dear,  take  it ;  I  believe  the 
Lord  designs  it  all  for  you."  * 

The  kindness  of  Mr.  Eliot  was  manifested 
in  other  ways  as  effectually,  at  least,  as  in  the 
bestowment  of  money.  His  wife  is  said  to  have 
had  some  skill  in  physic  and  surgery,  sufficient 
to  enable  her  in  common  cases  to  administer 
to  the  diseased  and  wounded  with  considerable 
success.  She  was  always  glad  to  use  her 
knowledge  as  an  instrument  of  charity ;  and  it 

*  See  1  M.  H.  Coll.,  X.  186,  where,  I  believe,  this  often- 
repeated  anecdote  was  originally  told.  It  is  given  in  a 
letter  signed  J.  M. ;  and  the  writer  of  the  letter  received  it 
from  his  parents,  who  were  natives  of  Roxbury. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  319 

was  with  delight  that  her  husband  saw  her 
engaged  in  these  labors  of  kindness.  One  of 
his  parishioners  was  deeply  offended  by  some- 
thing he  had  said  in  the  pulpit,  and  reviled 
him  in  no  measured  terms,  both  by  speech  and 
writing.  Not  long  afterwards,  this  man  hap- 
pened to  wound  himself  in  a  dangerous  man- 
ner. Eliot  immediately  despatched  his  wife  to 
dress  his  wound  and  relieve  his  suffering.  She 
discharged  the  office  with  ready  kindness,  and 
soon  effected  a  complete  cure.  When  the  man 
had  recovered,  he  went  to  thank  the  good  lady, 
and  offered  her  a  compensation,  which  she  de- 
clined. Mr.  Eliot  urged  him  to  stay  at  his 
house,  and  dine  with  him.  The  invitation  was 
accepted  ;  and  Eliot  treated  him  with  great 
kindness,  never  alluding  to  the  calumnies  and 
the  acrimonious  speeches,  with  which  his  par- 
ishioner had  assailed  his  character.  The  man, 
ashamed  of  his  conduct,  was  subdued  into 
a  friend.  Is  there  a  better  illustration  of  the 
fine  precept,  "  Be  not  overcome  of  evil,  but 
overcome  evil  with  good  "  ? 

Our  benevolent  apostle  was  distinguished 
for  his  love  of  peace.  "  He  was  a  great  enemy 
to  all  contention,"  says  Mather,  "  and  would 
ring  aloud  the  curfew-bell  wherever  he  saw  the 
fires  of  animosity."  To  one,  who  complained 
of  the  intractable  disposition  of  others,  he 
would   say,   "  Brother,   learn    the    meaning  of 


320  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

those  three  little  words,  bear,  forbear,  forgive.1 
When  either  peace  or  his  own  rights  must  be 
given  up,  he  was  always  willing  to  sacrifice  the 
latter  to  the  former ;  and  wherever  he  ap- 
peared, his  earnest  persuasive  was,  like  the 
affectionate  charge  so  often  repeated  by  the 
aged  Apostle  John,  "  My  children,  love  one 
another." 

His  habits  with  respect  to  personal  indul- 
gence were  of  the  most  simple  and  severe 
kind.  He  had  attained  a  complete  mastery 
over  the  pleasures  of  sense,  and  held  them  in 
despotic  subjugation.  The  lessons  of  self- 
denial,  which  he  had  thoroughly  learned  and 
daily  practised,  and  his  indifference  to  outward 
accommodations,  fitted  him  to  endure  with- 
out complaint  the  privations,  to  which  he  was 
often  exposed  in  his  ministry  to  the  Indians. 
He  allowed  himself  but  little  sleep,  rising  early 
and  beginning  his  labors  in  the  freshness  of 
morning.  This  habit  he  recommended  to 
others,  especially  to  those  who  were  engaged 
in  intellectual  pursuits.  He  would  often  say 
to  young  students,  "  I  pray  you,  look  to  it  that 
you  be  morning  birds." 

His  food  was  always  the  plainest  and  most 
simple.  Rich  viands  and  highly  seasoned  va- 
rieties for  the  table,  it  seems,  were  not  un- 
known in  New  England  even  at  that  time. 
For  these  Mr.  Eliot  had  no  relish  himself,  and 


JOHN    ELIOT.  32 1 

but  little  mercy  for  the  taste  in  others.  When 
he  dined  abroad,  he  partook  of  but  one  dish, 
and  that  the  plainest  on  the  table.  He  was 
habitually  a  water-drinker,  and  seldom  devi- 
ated into  the  use  of  any  other  liquor.  The 
juice  of  the  grape  he  did  not  denounce,  but 
rarely  tasted  it  himself.  "  Wine,"  he  was  ac- 
customed to  say,  "  is  a  noble,  generous  liquor, 
and  we  should  be  humbly  thankful  for  it ;  but, 
as  I  remember,  water  was  made  before  it." 
He  thought  very  justly  that  intemperate  eating 
deserved  to  be  severely  rebuked,  no  less  than 
intemperate  drinking.  In  his  correspondence 
with  Baxter  he  remarks,  "  I  observe  in  yours 
a  thing,  which  I  have  not  so  much  observed  in 
other  men's  writing,  namely  that  you  often  in- 
veigh against  the  sin  of  gluttony,  as  well  as 
drunkenness.  It  appeareth  to  be  a  very  great 
point  of  Christian  prudence,  temperance,  and 
mortification,  to  rule  the  appetite  of  eating  as 
well  as  drinking  ;  and,  were  that  point  more 
inculcated  by  divines,  it  would  much  tend  to 
the  sanctification  of  God's  people,  as  well  as 
to  a  better  preservation  of  health,  and  length- 
ening of  the  life  of  man  on  earth."  * 

Extravagance  or  finery  in  dress  was  likely 
to  draw  from  Mr.  Eliot  a  witty  or  a  serious  re- 
buke.    His  own  apparel  was  not   only  without 

*  Reliquiae  Baxterianse,  &c,  p.  294. 
VOL.    V.  21 


322  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

ornament,  but  frequently  of  the  most  homely 
kind.  It  is  said  that,  like  John  the  Baptist, 
he  sometimes  had  a  leathern  girdle  about  his 
loins  ;  but  this,  it  is  likely,  was  worn  only  or 
chiefly  during  his  missionary  excursions.  In 
some  men,  habits  like  these  might  justly  be 
supposed  to  proceed  from  an  affectation  of 
homeliness  ;  for  there  is  a  pride  of  plainness, 
as  well  as  a  pride  of  finery.  But  Mr.  Eliot 
was  too  guileless  a  man  to  be  suspected  of 
such  folly.  His  negligence  of  external  appear- 
ance, and  his  contempt  for  the  pleasures  of  the 
table,  were  the  result  of  an  unaffected  love  of 
simplicity,  strengthened  by  a  studious  life  and 
by  intense  engagement  in  absorbing  duties. 

Mr.  Eliot  had  a  few  whims,  to  which  he  was 
pertinaciously  attached.  One  of  these  was  an 
unsparing  hostility  to  the  practice  of  wearing 
long  hair  and  wigs.  He  could  not  endure  it ; 
he  regarded  it  as  an  iniquity  not  to  be  toler- 
ated. The  man,  and  especially  the  minister 
of  the  Gospel,  who  wore  a  wig,  he  considered 
as  committing  an  offence,  not  only  against  de- 
cency, but  against  religion.  His  zeal  about 
"  prolix  locks  "  was  warm,  but  unavailing.  He 
lived  to  see  the  practice  prevail  in  spite  of  his 
remonstrances,  and  at  last  gave  over  his  war- 
fare against  it  with  the  despairing  remark, 
"  The  lust  has  become  insuperable  !  "  The 
readers  of  New  England  history  will   remem- 


JOHN     ELIOT.  323 

ber,  that  in  1G49  an  association  was  formed, 
and  a  solemn  protest  published,  against  wear- 
ing long  hair,  by  Governor  Endicot  and  the 
other  magistrates.* 

In  this  punctiliousness  we  see  the  influence 
of  sympathy  with  the  English  Roundheads  car- 
ried even  into  trifles.  In  England  periwigs 
were  permitted  quietly  to  cover  the  head  soon 
after  the  restoration  of  Charles.  But  for  more 
than  thirty  years  after  that  time,  they  were 
deemed  by  many  a  sore  grievance  in  New  Eng- 
land. Gradually  during  that  period  they  were 
coming  into  use ;  but  they  needed  all  the  au- 
thority derived  from  the  practice  of  such  di- 
vines as  Owen,  Bates,  and  Mede,  to  find  pro- 
tection at  last.  The  intolerance  they  experi- 
enced from  Mr.  Eliot  was  not,  therefore,  a 
singularity  in  the  good  man;  he  only  perse- 
vered in  his  stern  hostility  against  them  longer 
than  many  others. 

To  the  use  of  tobacco,  the  introduction  of 
which  had  caused  no  little  disturbance  in  New 
England,  he  had  likewise  a  strong  aversion, 
and  denounced  it  in  the  severest  terms.  But 
his  opposition  in  this  case  was  as  ineffectual, 
as  in  that  of  the  wigs.  "  In  contempt  of  all 
his  admonitions,"  says  Allen,  "  the  head  would 
be  adorned  with  curls  of  foreign  growth,  and 
the  pipe  would  send  up  volumes  of  smoke." 

*  Hutchinson,  Vol.  I.  p.  142. 


324  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

In  his  domestic  relations  this  devoted  laborer 
for  truth  and  righteousness  was  richly  blessed, 
though  the  providence  of  God  repeatedly  called 
him  to  that  painful  trial,  the  bitterness  of  which 
none  but  a  parent's  heart  can  know.  He  had 
six  children  ;  one  daughter,  who  was  the  eldest, 
and  five  sons.  Only  the  daughter  and  one  son 
survived  him.  The  others  died  young,  or  in 
middle  age.* 

The  frequent  and  grievous  disappointment 
of  parental  hopes  Mr.  Eliot  received  with  the 
submissive  piety  of  a  Christian.  "  I  have  had," 
said  he  in  the  calm  spirit  inspired  by  his  faith, 
"  six  children ;  and,  I  bless  God  for  his  grace, 
they  are  all  either  with  Christ  or  in  Christ, 
and  my  mind  is  at  rest  concerning  them.  My 
desire  was  that  they  should  have  served  God 
on  earth ;  but  if  God  will  choose  to  have  them 
rather  serve  him  in  heaven,  I  have  nothing  to 
object  against  it,  but  his  will  be  done."  It  was 
his  earnest  desire  to  train  up  his  sons  to  aid 
and  follow  him  in  his  favorite  work  of  the  In- 
dian ministry.  On  this  subject  his  feelings 
were  once  much  affected  by  the  inquiries  which 
one  of  the  natives  made  respecting  his  chil- 
dren.! 

#  See  an  account  of  Eliot's  children  in  the  Magnalia, 
Life  of  Eliot,  Preliminary  I.  The  youngest  son  assisted 
his  father  some  time  in  the  ministry  at  Roxbury. 

f  "Another  Indian,"  says  he,  "who  lived  remote  another 


JOHN     ELIOT.  325 

Mr.  Eliot's  wife  was  a  woman  of  many  vir- 
tues, distinguished  for  gentle  piety  and  busy 
usefulness,  and  admirably  fitted  to  be  the  com- 
panion of  such  a  man.  Their  union  was  very 
long  and  very  happy.  She  stood  by  his  side 
for  many  years  to  soothe  his  sorrows,  to  en- 
courage his  heart,  and  to  strengthen  his  hands. 
It  was  fortunate  for  him,  that  she  bestowed  a 
skilful  attention  on  the  management  of  the  pru- 
dential concerns  of  the  family;  for  so  negligent 
was  he  of  these  things,  that  he  did  not  know 
his  own  property.  His  wife  once  amused  her- 
self by  pointing  to  several  of  his  cows,  that 
stood  before  the  door,  and  asking  him  whose 
they  were.  She  found  that  the  good  man  knew 
nothing  about  them. 

way,  asked  me  if  I  had  any  children.  I  answered,  Yea. 
He  asked  how  many.  I  said,  Six.  He  asked  how  many  of 
them  were  sons.  I  told  him,  Five.  Then  he  asked  whether 
my  sons  should  teach  the  Indians  to  know  God,  as  I  do. 
At  which  question  I  was  much  moved  in  my  heart ;  for  I 
have  often  in  my  prayers  dedicated  all  my  sons  unto  the 
Lord  to  serve  him  in  this  sendee,  if  he  will  please  to  ac- 
cept them  therein;  and  my  purpose  is  to  do  my  uttermost 
to  train  them  up  in  learning,  whereby  they  may  be  fitted  in 
the  best  manner  I  can  to  serve  the  Lord  herein  ;  and  better 
preferment  I  desire  not  for  them,  than  to  serve  the  Lord  in 
this  travail.  And  to  that  purpose  I  answered  him  ;  and  my 
answer  seemed  to  be  well  pleasing  to  them,  which  seemed 
to  minister  to  my  heart  some  encouragement  that  the 
Lord's  meaning  was  to  improve  them  that  way,  and  he 
would  prepare  their  hearts  to  accept  the  same."  —  Eliot's 
letter  in  Further  Discovery,  ^"c.  p.  20.  See  Appendix. 
No.  IV. 

F   F 


326  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Her  excellent  domestic  economy,  her  un- 
wearied activity,  and  her  truly  Christian  char- 
acter made  her  a  blessing  to  her  family,  to 
the  church,  and  to  the  whole  circle  of  her  ac- 
quaintances. She  died,  three  years  before  her 
husband,  on  the  24th  of  March,  1687,  in  the 
eighty-fourth  year  of  her  age.  The  Reverend 
Mr.  Danforth  of  Dorchester  offered  to  her  mem- 
ory the  tribute  of  a  poetical  effusion.*  Her 
death  smote  heavily  on  the  heart  of  her  vener- 
able husband.  The  weight  of  eighty-three 
years  was  pressing  him  down  ;  and  she,  who 
was  bound  to  him  by  the  strong  ties  of  early 
love,  who  had  been  his  solace  amidst  toil  and 
trial,  and  who  was  truly  called  "  the  staff  of 
his  age,"  had  fallen  by  his  side. 

When  the  aged  are  thus  separated,  there  is 
for  the  survivor  a  dreary  loneliness,  which 
none  but  the  aged  can  feel.  The  smile,  which 
had  made  the  fireside  cheerful  for  many  years, 
the  busy  kindness  in  the  little  details  of  every 
day  which  grows  more  important  as  years  steal 
on,  the  quiet  happiness  arising  from  a  perfect 
acquaintance  with  each  other's  tastes  and  an 
entire  confidence  in  each  other's  hearts,  the 
pleasure  of  mutual  dependence  which  habit  has 

#  A  poem  "  On  the  death  of  Mrs.  Anne  Eliot,  the  virtu- 
ous Consort  of  the  Reverend  John  Eliot,  first  Minister  of 
Roxbury."  See  1  M.  H.  Coll.,  IX.  176.  Mr.  Danforth  also 
wrote  "  verses  to  the  memory  "  of  Mr.  Eliot. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  327 

made  a  daily  want ;  these  are  gone,  and  the 
world  offers  nothing  that  can  fill  their  place. 
One,  who  was  present  at  the  funeral,  tells  us 
that  Mr.  Eliot  stood  beside  the  coffin  of  her 
whom  he  had  so  long  loved,  and,  while  the 
tears  flowed  fast  and  full,  said  to  the  con- 
course of  people  around,  "  Here  lies  my  dear, 
faithful,  pious,  prudent,  prayerful  wife  ;  I  shall 
go  to  her,  but  she  shall  not  return  to  me." 
He  turned  away  from  her  grave,  and  went  to 
his  house-;  but  it  was  desolate,  for  the  light  of 
his  home  was  gone. 


328  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Eliot's    Old  Age  and  Death.  —  Concluding 
Remarks, 

The  closing  scene  of  this  excellent  man's 
life  was  now  drawing  nigh.  Time  had  been 
gradually  doing  its  work  upon  him;  the  earthly 
tabernacle  was  near  to  dissolution;  "  the  time- 
shadow  "  of  this  noble  spirit  was  about  to  van- 
ish. Mr.  Eliot's  rigid  temperance,  and  the 
hard  exercise  to  which  his  various  duties  had 
called  him,  had  strengthened  a  constitution 
naturally  firm,  and  given  him  almost  uniform 
good  health.  He  was  one  of  those  who  wear 
well.  His  last  days  were  not  days  of  pain  and 
disease,  though  the  infirmities  of  long-pro- 
tracted life  gathered  around  him.  The  old 
age  of  the  apostle  Eliot  was  indeed  an  envia- 
ble one;  calm,  bright,  and  full  of  sustaining 
recollections.  His  task  was  done,  and  well 
done.  "  His  witness  was  in  heaven,  and  his 
record  on  high."  Years  had  struck  feebleness 
into  his  limbs  ;  but  his  soul  was  strong;  his 
spirit  was  ripe  for  the  communion  of  the 
blessed  ;  and  the  eye  of  faith  ever  looked  up- 
ward. He  had  stood,  during  a  long  life,  at  the 
post  of  duty  with  sleepless  vigilance ;   success 


JOHN     ELIOT.  329 

had  never  seduced  him  into  sluggishness  ;  dis- 
appointment had  never  driven  him  into  despair. 
Not  to  one  like  him  could  be  applied,  in  any 
sense,  the  lamentation  over  the  close  of  an  idle, 
useless  life,  so  beautifully  expressed  by  Sadi, 
the  philosophical  poet  of  Persia  ; 

"  Alas !  for  him  who  has  gone  and  has  done  no  good  work ; 
The  trumpet  of  march  has  sounded,  aid  his  load  was  not 
bound  on."  * 

With  a  fidelity  that  never  broke  down,  with 
an  affection  that  was  never  wearied  out,  Eliot 
had  gone  forth  among  the  wild  men  of  the 
woods,  year  after  year,  in  sunshine  and  in 
storm,  under  the  burning  rays  of  summer  and 
in  winter's  sharpest  cold,  to  proclaim  to  them 
"the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ."  He  had 
been  the  first  to  break  the  ground,  on  which 
"  the  seed  which  is  the  word  of  God  "  was  to 
be  sown  ;  and,  in  the  devout  confidence  of  faith, 
he  believed  the  harvest  would  come.  He  had 
dealt  kindly,  truly,  and  earnestly  with  the  bar- 
barians ;  and  they  had  listened  to  him,  loved 
him,  and  in  their  homely  way  testified  their 
gratitude,  and  received  his  instructions.  He 
had  left  among  them  that  noble  gift,  the  fruit 
of  many  years'  hard  toil,  the  Bible  in  their  own 
native  words  ;  and  there  it  would  remain,  the 
silent  but  quickening   teacher  of  God's    truth, 

*  Malcolm's  History  of  Persia,  Vol.  II.  p.  538. 

Ff2 


330  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

reminding  them  of  him  whose  heart  had  felt, 
and  whose  hand  had  labored,  for  them,  when 
that  heart  and  that  hand  should  be  dust.  He 
had  laid  open  a  whole  new  field,  on  which  di- 
vine truth  might  work  out  its  triumphs,  and 
send  forth  its  blessings. 

Besides  this,  he  had  done  the  duty  of  a  faith- 
ful minister  at  home ;  he  had  been  the  counsel- 
lor, the  friend,  the  comforter  of  all  ;  living 
words  of  instruction,  of  peace,  of  encourage- 
ment, of  warning,  had  gone  forth  from  his  lips, 
and  reached  and  quickened  many  souls.  To 
the  church  in  general  he  had,  with  ability  and 
fidelity,  rendered  highly  valued  services  by  his 
writings  and  his  personal  influence ;  and  he 
had  stood  among  the  guiding  spirits  of  the 
country.  When  the  feebleness  of  more  than 
fourscore  years  had  disabled  him  for  active  ex- 
ertion, and  his  frame  was  bowed,  and  his  steps 
slow,  he  was  still  beloved  and  revered  ;  he 
was  amidst  a  people  who  looked  to  him  as  to 
one  already  speaking  to  them  from  another 
world ;  they  called  him  their  father,  and  loved 
him  as  such ;  and  their  children  hung  around 
him  "  to  share  the  good  man's  smile."  Was  it 
not  a  happy  old  age,  the  old  age  of  the  Christian 
scholar,  the  faithful  missionary,  the  time-worn 
servant  of  God  ?  How  different  from  that  old 
age,  barren  of  cheering  recollections  or  full 
of  remorse,   which  may  well   be   dreaded,  and 


JOHN     ELIOT.  331 

which,  it  has  been  finely  said,  appears  like  the 
magical  beings  fearfully  portrayed  in  Oriental 
fiction,  who  sit  in  clouds  of  darkness  at  the 
end  of  man's  course,  fixing  upon  their  victims, 
as  they  approach,  those  keen,  never-moving 
eyes,  which  by  an  indescribable  but  terrific 
power  draw  them  towards  their  destiny  in 
spite  of  all  their  efforts  ! 

Mr.  Eliot  continued  to  preach  as  long  as  his 
strength  lasted.  His  trembling  voice  was  still 
heard,  and  his  apostolic  form  seen,  in  the  pul- 
pit which  had  so  long  been  his  beloved  place 
of  duty.  With  slow  and  feeble  steps  he  as- 
cended the  hill,  on  which  his  church  was  situ- 
ated, and  once  observed  to  the  person,  on 
whose  arm  he  leaned  for  support,  "  This  is  very 
much  like  the  way  to  heaven  ;  't  is  up  hill ;  the 
Lord  by  his  grace  fetch  us  up."  At  length  his 
physical  powers  failed  so  much,  that  he  was 
peculiarly  reminded  of  his  need  of  an  assistant. 
Since  1674  he  had  been  without  a  colleague. 
He  now  requested  his  people  to  provide  them- 
selves with  another  minister,  that,  before  he 
should  die,  he  might  have  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  his  successor  established  in  office. 
When  he  made  this  request,  he  added,  with 
his  characteristic  liberality,  "  JTis  possible,  you 
may  think  the  burden  of  maintaining  two  minis- 
ters too  heavy  for  you ;  but  I  deliver  you  from 
that  fear ;   I  do  here  give  back  my  salary  to  the 


332  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  now,  brethren,  you 
may  fix  that  upon  any  man  whom  God  shall 
make  a  pastor  for  you."  His  church  were 
much  affected  by  the  old  man's  generous  pro- 
posal. With  a  noble  spirit,  worthy  of  imita- 
tion, but  not  always  imitated,  they  assured  him, 
that,  though  he  was  disabled  from  rendering 
them  the  services  they  had  so  long  received, 
yet  they  should  account  his  beloved  presence 
among  them  worth  a  salary. 

On  the  17th  of  October,  1688,  the  Reverend 
Nehemiah  Walter  was  ordained  as  his  col- 
league. Mr.  Eliot  received  him  with  the  kind- 
ness of  a  father,  and  was  delighted  to  witness 
his  usefulness,  and  the  favor  he  found  among 
the  people  of  his  charge.  After  this  it  was 
with  difficulty  that  he  could  be  persuaded  to 
engage  in  any  public  service.  The  last  time 
this  venerable  man  preached  was  on  the  day  of 
a  public  fast.  He  delivered  a  clear  and  edify- 
ing exposition  of  the  eighty-third  Psalm.  At 
the  close  he  begged  his  hearers  to  pardon  his 
poor  and  broken  thoughts,  and  added,  "  But 
my  dear  brother  here  will  by  and  by  mend 
it  all." 

This  aged  servant  of  Christ  sat  waiting,  as 
it  were,  in  the  antechamber  of  death,  quiet 
and  full  of  hope.  He  used  sometimes  pleas- 
antly to  say,  that  he  was  afraid  some  of  his  old 
Christian  friends,  who  had  departed  before  him^ 


JOHN     ELIOT.  333 

especially  John  Cotton  of  Boston  and  Richard 
Mather  of  Dorchester,  would  suspect  him  to 
have  gone  the  wrong  way,  because  he  remained 
so  long  behind  them.  His  full  share  of  work 
seemed  to  have  been  done;  but  even  now  he 
could  not  consent  to  be  idle.  He  looked 
around  for  some  labor  of  benevolence  and 
piety,  such  as  the  remnant  of  his  powers  might 
allow  him  to  perform.  The  care  of  the  igno- 
rant and  the  neglected  was  still  the  ruling  pas- 
sion of  his  heart.  He  saw  with  grief  the  great 
want  of  concern  for  the  moral  welfare  of  the 
blacks.  He  proposed  to  many  of  the  families 
within  two  or  three  miles  of  his  house,  that 
they  should  send  their  negro  servants  to  him 
once  a  week,  to  be  instructed  in  religion.  In 
this  humble,  but  truly  benevolent  work,  he  re- 
joiced to  occupy  some  of  his  last  hours  ;  but 
death  intervened  before  much  could  be  ac- 
complished. 

Another  labor  of  charity,  which  he  under- 
took when  he  could  no  longer  go  out  of  doors, 
was  the  instruction  of  a  boy,  who  in  infancy 
had  lost  his  sight  by  falling  into  the  fire.  To 
this  blind  boy  the  venerable  man  devoted  much 
time  and  attention.  He  took  him  to  his  own 
house  ;  and  by  the  tedious  process  of  verbal 
repetition  made  him  acquainted  with  many  por- 
tions of  Scripture,  so  that  the  youth  learned  to 
repeat   whole    chapters,    and    would   instantly 


334  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

correct  any  mistake  which  he  heard  a  person 
commit  in  reading.  Mr.  Eliot  instructed  him 
patiently  in  religion  and  other  subjects ;  and 
the  blind  child  heard  the  voice  of  love  and 
truth  from  the  aged  man,  till  that  voice  was 
hushed  in  death. 

Amidst  the  infirmities  of  his  last  days,  Mr. 
Eliot  never  lost  his  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
New  England.  His  heart  was  still  upon  the 
good  of  the  church  and  the  colony.  He  ob- 
served with  distressing  apprehensions  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  notorious  Edward  Randolph  ; 
and,  when  Increase  Mather  was  about  to  depart 
for  England  as  agent  of  the  province,  Eliot 
with  a  trembling  hand  wrote  to  him  a  few  im- 
perfect lines.  This  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  last  time  that  he  used  his  pen. 

While  death  was  fast  approaching,  his  men- 
tal powers,  though  dimmed  and  broken,  were 
still  retained.  He  rejoiced  in  the  thought,  that 
he  should  soon  carry  to  his  friends  in  heaven 
good  news  of  the  prosperity  of  the  New  Eng- 
land churches.  When  some  one  inquired  how 
he  was,  he  replied,  "  Alas  !  I  have  lost  every 
thing;  my  understanding  leaves  me  ;  my  mem- 
ory fails  me ;  my  utterance  fails  me  j  but,  I 
thank  God,  my  charity  holds  out  still ;  I  find 
that  rather  grows  than  fails."  One  of  his  last 
remembrances  lingered  sadly  among  those,  to 
whom    he  had   given   so  much  of  his   strength 


JOHN     ELIOT.  335 

and  life.  "  There  is  a  cloud,"  he  said,  "  a 
dark  cloud  upon  the  work  of  the  Gospel  among 
the  poor  Indians.  The  Lord  revive  and  pros- 
per that  work,  and  grant  it  may  live  when  I  am 
dead.  It  is  a  work,  which  I  have  been  doing 
much  and  long  about.  But  what  was  the  word 
I  spoke  last  ?  I  recall  that  expression  my  do- 
ings. Alas,  they  have  been  poor  and  small  do- 
ings, and  I  '11  be  the  man  that  shall  throw  the 
first  stone  at  them  all."  When,  a  short  time 
before  his  death,  Mr.  Walter  came  into  his 
room,  he  said,  "Brother,  you  are  welcome  to 
my  very  soul ;  but  retire  to  your  study,  and 
pray  that  I  may  have  leave  to  be  gone."  Mr. 
Eliot  died  on  the  20th  of  May,  1690,  aged 
eighty-six  years.  The  last  words  on  his  lips 
were  "  welcome  joy  !  " 

Such  was  the  life  and  such  the  end  of  John 
Eliot.  New  England  bewailed  his  death,  as  a 
great  and  general  calamity.  The  churches, 
whose  growth  and  prosperity  had  always  been 
among  the  things  which  lay  nearest  to  his  heart, 
felt  that  they  had  lost  a  spiritual  father,  whose 
venerable  presence  had  been  to  them  a  defence 
and  glory.  So  deep  was  the  sentiment  of  rev- 
erence for  his  character,  that  Mather  observes, 
"  We  had  a  tradition  among  us,  that  the  coun- 
try could  never  perish  as  long  as  Eliot  was 
alive."  One,  who  for  a  long  series  of  years 
had   filled  so  large  a  space  with   eminent   use- 


336  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

fulness,  on  whom  the  confidence  of  the  best 
men  in  church  and  state  had  reposed  without 
wavering,  and  over  whose  name,  age  and  great 
services  had  shed  a  saintly  consecration,  could 
not  depart  from  those,  with  and  for  whom  he 
had  acted,  without  leaving  a  community  in 
mourning.  The  Indian  church  at  Natick  wept 
the  loss  of  their  venerated  instructer,  as  rough 
men  in  simplicity  of  heart  would  weep  for  one, 
who  had  loved  them,  who  had  prayed  for  them, 
and  guided  them  to  the  things  of  their  ever- 
lasting peace.* 

A  voice  came  across  the  waters,  responding 
to  the  voice  of  New  England.  When  Richard 
Baxter  lay,  as  he  supposed,  dying  in  his  bed, 
he  received  a  copy  of  Cotton  Mather's  Life  of 
Eliot.f  He  was  able  to  read  the  book,  and  it 
revived  him.  He  wrote  a  short  letter  to  In- 
crease Mather,  then  in  London,  dated  August 
3d,  1691,  in  which  he  said,  "I  knew  much  of 
Mr.  Eliot's  opinions  by  many  letters  I  had 
from  him.  There  was  no  man  on  earth,  whom 
I  honored  above  him.  I  am  now  dying,  I  hope, 
as  he  did."  Baxter,  whose  hearty  integrity  of 
principle  raised  him  above  the  weakness  of 
flattery,  and  gave   peculiar  value    to  his    com- 


*  See  Appendix,  No.  V. 

f  This  was  first  published  in  a  small  book  separately, 
and  afterwards  incorporated  into  the  Magnalia. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  337 

mendation,  had  expressed,  in  a  letter  written 
nearly  twenty  years  before  this  time,  his  opin- 
ion of  Mr.  Eliot's  labors  ;  "  There  is  no  man 
on  earth,"  said  he,  "  whose  work  I  think  more 
honorable  and  comfortable,  than  yours.  The 
industry  of  the  Jesuits  and  friars,  and  their 
successes  in  Congo,  Japan,  China,  &c,  shame 
us  all,  save  you."  Of  a  man  to  whom  such  tes- 
timony was  borne  by  the  records  of  his  own 
life,  and  by  the  attestations  of  the  wise  and 
good  who  knew  him  well,  it  may  be  said  with 
simple  truth,  in  the  lines  of  one  whose  poetry 
has  graced  the  literature  of  the  age,  as  well  as 
of  his  own  country, 

"  His  youth  was  innocent ;  his  riper  age, 

Marked  with  some  act  of  goodness,  every  day  ; 
And  watched  by  eyes  that  loved  him,  calm  and  sage, 

Faded  his  late  declining  years  away. 
Cheerful  he  gave  his  being  up,  and  went 
To  share  the  holy  rest  that  waits  a  life  well  spent" 

Of  Eliot's  personal  appearance  we  have  no 
information ;  nor  is  there,  so  far  as  I  can  learn, 
a  portrait  or  effigies  of  him  in  existence. 

In  the  course  of  this  narrative  all  the  writ- 
ings of  Mr.  Eliot,  which  have  come  to  my 
knowledge,  have  been  described  or  mentioned. 
Some  of  these  I  have  not  seen,  and  presume 
they  are  not  to  be  found  in  any  public  or  pri- 
vate library  among  us.  When  we  consider  his 
high  character  as  a  preacher,  it  is  remarkable 

vol.  v.  22  Gg 


338  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

that  he  published  no  sermons.*  Those  of  his 
compositions,  which  are  in  our  hands,  prove 
that  he  wrote  with  great  simplicity  and  direct- 
ness, with  a  heart  full  of  his  subject,  and  in- 
tent on  reaching  the  hearts  of  others.  It  is 
evident  that  he  had  not  studied  much  what  is 
commonly  called  the  art  of  writing  well;  yet 
he  wrote  well.  His  style  is  sometimes  rugged 
and  ungraceful,  but  frequently  strong,  nervous, 
peculiarly  expressive,  and  always  like  the 
speech  of  a  man  who  earnestly  believes  what  he 
has  to  say,  and  therefore  says  it  in  a  straight- 
forward manner.  Some  of  his  best  writing  is 
found  in  his  letters  concerning  the  affairs  of 
the  Indians.  In  these  his  heart  gushes  forth  in 
a  mixture  of  warm  zeal  and  gentle  feeling, 
which  sometimes  has  a  beautiful  effect.  His 
general  character  as  a  writer,  and  probably  as 
a  preacher,  so  far  as  thought  and  style  are  con- 
cerned, may  be  fitly  described  in  the  language 
of  Milton,  who  says,  "  True  eloquence  I  find  to 
be  none  but  the  serious  and  hearty  love  of 
truth,  and  that  whose  mind  soever  is  fully  pos- 
sessed with  a  fervent  desire  to  know  good 
things,  and  with  the  dearest  charity  to   infuse 

*  Mather  gives  us  what  I  suppose  to  have  been  a  part  of 
one  of  Eliot's  sermons  on  the  passage,  "  Our  conversation 
is  in  heaven,"  which  he  wrote  down  from  the  lips  of  the 
speaker.  It  presents  a  pleasing  specimen  of  his  style  of 
preaching.  —  Life  of  Eliot,  Part  I.  Article  1. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  339 

the  knowledge  of  them  into  others,  when  such 
a  man  would  speak,  his  words,  by  what  I  can 
express,  like  so  many  nimble  and  airy  servi- 
tors, trip  about  him  at  command,  and  in  well- 
ordered  files,  as  he  would  wish,  fall  aptly  into 
their  own  places."  * 

It  is  difficult  now  to  ascertain  what  were 
Mr.  Eliot's  peculiar  faults.  He  has  been  re- 
proached, we  are  told,  both  with  the  want  of 
constancy  in  his  opinions  and  conduct,  and 
with  pertinacious  obstinacy  in  maintaining  his 
peculiar  notions.  These  two  characteristics, 
though  not  positively  irreconcilable,  could 
scarcely  have  existed  together  in  a  mind  like 
his.  From  what  we  learn  of  his  life,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  perceive  the  justice  of  the  accusation. 
A  man  is  not  necessarily  versatile  or  fickle  be- 
cause on  one  occasion  he  retracts  an  opinion,  nor 
stubborn  because  on  another  he  is  not  to  be 
moved  from  strict  adherence  to  his  own  views. 
His  conduct,  in  the  first  instance,  may  be  can- 
dor ;  in  the  other,  it  may  be  the  firmness  of 
principle. 

Cotton  Mather,  pursuing  a  fancy  of  which 
he  was  very  fond,  tells  us,  that  the  anagram  of 
Eliot's  name  was  Toile.  This  conceit  has  at 
least  the  merit  of  expressing  truly  one  of  the 
most  prominent   traits  in  the  character  of  the 

*  Apology  for  Smectymnuus,  Section  XII. 


340  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

Apostle  to  the  Indians.  His  life  may  be  re- 
corded among  the  most  eminent  examples  of 
industry,  which  the  world  has  furnished.  How 
few,  even  of  those  who  might  be  deemed  dili- 
gent men,  that  would  not  have  shrunk  from  the 
tasks,  which  he  cheerfully  undertook,  and  reso- 
lutely accomplished  !  He  had  none  of  that  dis- 
trust or  timidity,  which  springs  from  indolence. 
Acting  on  the  conviction,  that,  for  the  most 
part,  it  is  idleness  alone  which  creates  impos- 
sibilities, he  felt,  that  hard  work,  performed  in 
the  spirit  of  faith  and  crowned  with  the  bles- 
sing of  God,  will  remove  mountains.  He 
seemed  to  consider  incessant  and  strenuous 
labor  as  his  inheritance ;  he  loved  it,  and  gave 
himself  to  it  with  unsparing  perseverance.  By 
day  and  by  night,  at  home  and  abroad,  in  soli- 
tude and  in  society,  he  was  ever  at  work,  ever 
busy  for  truth,  for  his  fellow-men,  and  for  God. 
His  course  of  moral  service  was  marked  by 
those  excellences,  which  Cicero  in  his  warm 
panegyric  on  Pompey  ascribes  to  the  comman- 
der in  military  service  ;  *  and  if  ever  there  was 
a  man,  who  might  justly  be  said  to  have  died 
"  rich  in  good  works,"  that  man  was  John 
Eliot. 

Fervent  piety  and  devotedness  to  duty  were 

*  "  Labor  in  negotio,  fortitudo  in  periculis,  industria  in 
agendo,  celeritas  in  conficiendo,  consilium  in  providendo." 
—  Oratio  pro  Lege  Manilid,  XI. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  341 

the  vital  elements  of  Mr.  Eliot's  inward  life. 
His  heart  was  given,  as  a  holocaust,  to  the  Fa- 
ther of  his  spirit ;  and  because  he  loved  God, 
he  loved  and  labored  for  man  till  the  last  hour, 
till  the  grasp  of  death  was  on  him.  It  would 
not  be  easy  to  find  on  the  records  of  human 
virtue  one,  who  more  habitually  felt,  that  in  re- 
ceiving the  gift  of  life  he  had  received  a  great 
mission  to  do  good.  All  his  duties  belonged, 
in  his  estimate,  to  the  family  of  religion  ;  and 
his  services  to  man  were  after  the  measure  of 
his  piety  to  God.  That  intrigue  between  truth 
and  error,  which  so  often  constitutes  the  so- 
phistical disguise  of  wrong,  his  simplicity  of 
heart  sternly  discarded. 

His  remarkable  humility  may  be  considered 
as  the  consequence  of  the  sense  of  God's  pres- 
ence by  wThich  his  mind  was  overshadowed, 
and  of  the  industrious  consecration  to  labors 
of  usefulness  which  made  up  the  history  of  his 
days.  He  thought  not  of  himself,  because  he 
was  intent  on  his  work.  In  one,  who  became 
a  leader  in  a  new  moral  movement,  who  was 
the  first  Protestant*  that  diffused  Christianity 


*  So  it  is  stated  in  1  M.  H.  Coll.,  VIII.  11.  The  com- 
mencement of  Mayhew's  labors  for  the  Indians  is  by  some 
placed  a  year  earlier  than  that  of  Eliot's.  But  from  May- 
hew's own  account  (3  M.  H.  Coll.,  IV.  109-118)  it  ap- 
pears, that  he  did  not  preach  to  the  Indians  till  1646,  the 
same  year  in  which  Eliot  began  his  course.     Before  that 

G  g2 


342  AMERICAN     BIOGRAPHY. 

among  the  wild  tribes  of  America,  and  who 
effected  more  than  any  other  man  in  the  Indian 
mission,  we  might  be  disposed  to  pardon  some 
degree  of  egotism.  But  we  have  nothing  of 
this  sort  to  excuse  in  Mr.  Eliot.  I  know  not 
that  in  any  of  his  writings,  or  in  any  account 
of  his  conversation,  there  can  be  found  a  soli- 
tary expression,  that  looks  like  self-seeking,  or 
a  sense  of  personal  importance.  His  forget- 
fulness  of  self,  while  others  were  looking  on 
him  with  admiration,  reminds  us  of  the  quaint 
and  significant  remark  of  a  Scotch  divine,  when 
commenting  on  the  circumstance,  that  Moses's 
face  shone  as  he  came  down  from  the  mount ; 
"It  was  a  braw  thing,"  he  said,  "for  a  man's 
face  to  shine,  and  him  not  to  ken  it."  It  was 
in  accordance  with  the  same  disposition,  that, 
though  ardent  in  his  efforts,  Mr.  Eliot  was 
not  enthusiastic  in  his  statements  of  success. 
His  character  presented  the  unusual  combina- 
tion of  warm  zeal  in  labor  with  habitual  fair- 
ness in  estimating  its  results. 

Never,   perhaps,    was    there    a    missionary, 
whose   reports   contained   less   that    could    be 

time,  Hiacoomes  had  by  intercourse  with  the  English  be- 
come a  convert  to  their  religion  ;  but  there  had  been  no 
systematic  exertions  on  the  part  of  Mayhew.  Eliot  and 
Mayhew  may,  therefore,  be  considered  as  having  com- 
menced the  work  of  preaching  to  the  natives  about  simul- 
taneously. 


JOHN     ELIOT.  343 

called  sanguine  or  fanciful.  And  whatever 
success  he  supposed  to  be  achieved,  he  as- 
cribed to  Him,  on  the  strength  of  whose  sup- 
port he  felt  his  dependence.  He  would  have 
no  honor  given  to  the  instrument,  but  all  to  that 
Being,  faith  in  whom  was  his  soul's  central 
principle.  His  gifts,  his  attainments,  his  life, 
he  consecrated  to  the  cause  of  holiness  and  to 
the  work  of  duty.  "  I  think,"  said  Shepard, 
who  knew  him  well,  "  that  we  can  never  love 
nor  honor  this  man  of  God  enough."  The  name 
of  the  Apostle  to  the  Indians  must  always 
stand  in  distinguished  brightness  on  that  roll 
of  the  servants  of  the  Most  High,  whom  New 
England  delights,  and  ever  will  delight,  to 
honor  in  the  records  of  her  moral  history. 


APPENDIX. 


No.  I.    p. 


Account  of  rare  and  valuable  Tracts,  in  which 
are  described  the  labors  of  the  apostle  eliot 
in  teaching  Christianity  to  the  Indians. 

There  are  several  old  and  very  valuable  tracts  relating 
to  the  Indians,  and  especially  to  the  attempts  made  by 
our  ancestors  to  convert  them  to  Christianity.  These  have 
come  down  to  us  from  the  earliest  periods  of  New  England 
history,  and  were  written  by  men  who  lived  in  the  midst 
of  the  best  opportunities  for  personal  observation  or  knowl- 
edge. As  they  are  comparatively  but  little  known  among 
us,  and  may  be  regarded  as  the  original  and  best  authori- 
ties on  these  subjects,  I  have  thought  that  the  following 
list  of  them  might  not  be  unacceptable  to  the  curious 
reader. 

1.  "  Good  Newes  from  JVeio  England ;  or,  A  True 
Relation  of  Things  very  remarkable  at  the  Plantation  of 
Plimouth  in  New  England  ;  fyc.  Written  hy  E.  W. 
[Edward  Winslow],  who  hath  home  a  Part  in  the  fore- 
named  Troubles,  and  there  lived  since  their  frst  Arrival ;  fyc. 
London.  1624."  —  This  was  reprinted  among  the  Collec- 
tions of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  (1st  Series, 
VIII.  239  -  276,  and  2d  Series,  IX.  74  - 104) ;  but  in  a 
disjointed  manner,  as  the  whole  original  work  was  not  to 
be  found  till  it  was  furnished  by  the  Ebeling  Library,  and 
the  first  republication  was  from  the  abridgment  in  Pur- 
chas's  Pilgrims. 


346  APPENDIX. 

2.  "Neio  England's  First  Fruits;  in  Respect,  1.  of 
the  Conversion  of  some,  Conviction  of  divers,  Preparation 
of  sundry  of  the  Indians.  2.  Of  the  Progresse  of  Learning 
in  the  College  at  Cambridge  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  fyc. 
London.  1643."  —  This  tract  is  anonymous,  and  I  am  not 
aware  that  the  name  of  the  writer  can  be  ascertained. 
A  part  of  it  (that  which  relates  to  the  College)  is  reprinted 
in  1  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  I.  242-250. 

3.  "  The  Day- Breaking,  if  not  the  Sun- Rising  of  the 
Gospel  ivith  the  Indians  in  New  England,  fyc.  London. 
1647." — In  this  account  we  have  the  original  narrative 
of  the  first  visits  to  Nonantum.  It  was  printed  without 
the  writer's  name.  In  the  reprint  which  appears  in  the 
Collections  of  the  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  (3d  Series,  IV.),  it  is, 
in  a  note  to  the  Advertisement  to  the  Reader,  ascribed  to 
Mr.  Eliot.  But  this  is  unquestionably  a  mistake.  There 
are  several  circumstances  in  the  narrative,  which  furnish 
strong  presumptive  evidence,  that  he  could  not  have  been 
the  author  of  "  The  Day-Breaking,  fyc."  But  the  follow- 
ing sentence,  which  occurs  towards  the  close  of  the  tract, 
seems  decisive  of  the  question.  "He  that  God  hath  raised 
up  and  enabled  to  preach  unto  them,  is  a  man  (you  know) 
of  a  most  sweet,  humble,  loving,  gracious,  and  enlarged 
spirit,  whom  God  hath  blest,  and  surely  will  still  delight 
in,  and  do  good  by."  Now  the  person  here  spoken  of 
could  have  been  no  other  than  Eliot ;  and  he,  of  course, 
did  not  Avrite  this  concerning  himself.  Nor  do  I  find,  upon 
inquiry,  any  authority  for  the  note,  which  assigns  this  tract 
to  him.  In  the  valuable  account  of  Eliot,  which  the  Rever- 
end Mr.  Young  of  Boston  affixed  to  his  "  Sermon  at  the 
Ordination  of  the  Reverend  Mr.  Thompson  in  Natick,"  he 
ascribes  "  The  Day-Breaking,  fyc,"  to  the  Reverend  John 
Wilson  of  Boston.  I  am  disposed  to  believe  this  statement 
to  be  correct,  especially  as  it  is  confirmed,  I  am  told,  by  the 
authority  of  the  late  Mr.  Baldwin,  librarian  of  the  Ameri- 
can Antiquarian  Society,  well-known  for  his  accuracy  in 
matters  of  this  kind.     Wilson  was  a  friend  of  Mr.  Eliot, 


APPENDIX.  347 

and  very  likely,  from  the  interest  he  felt  in  his  Indian 
labors,  to  have  written  the  account  in  question.  It  seems 
singular,  that  Eliot's  name  is  not  once  mentioned  in  the 
whole  narrative.  He  is  spoken  of  as  "one  of  the  company" 
who  preached.  It  is  not  improbable  that,  with  his  char- 
acteristic modesty,  he  requested  the  writer  not  to  mention 
his  name. 

4.  "  The  Chare  Sunshine  of  the  Gospel  breaking  forth 
upon  the  Indians  in  New  England  ;  or,  An  Historicall 
Narration  of  God's  iconderfull  Workings,  $'C  By  Mr. 
Thomas  Shepard,  Minister  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  at 
Cambridge  in  Xew  England.  London.  1648."  —  This 
tract  is  preceded  by  a  Dedication  to  the  Parliament,  and 
an  Epistle  to  the  Reader,  each  signed  by  Stephen  Mar- 
shall and  eleven  other  of  the  distinguished  divines  of  that 
period  in  England.  Besides  Shepard's  own  narrative,  it 
contains  a  letter  from  Mr.  Eliot  to  him,  giving  an  account 
of  his  work  among  the  Indians  up  to  that  time. 

5.  "The  Glorious  Progress  of  the  Gospel  amongst  the 
Indians  in  JVetc  England,  S,-c.  Published  by  Edward  Win- 
slow.  London.  1649." — This  is  dedicated  to  the  Par- 
liament by  Winslow.  It  commences  with  some  introduc- 
tory remarks  from  the  same  hand  ;  and  the  rest  of  the 
book  consists  of  four  letters,  one  from  Mayhew  and  three 
from  Eliot,  and  an  Appendix  by  "J.  D."  These  initials  are 
supposed  by  Mr.  Rich  in  his  Catalogue  (Part  I.  p.  70)  to 
designate  John  Dury,  the  famous  pacificator  of  the  Chris- 
tian sects.  They  may,  however,  be  the  initials  of  John 
Downam,  one  of  the  divines  who  took  an  interest  in  the 
Indian  cause. 

6.  "  The  Light  appearing  more  and  more  towards  the 
perfect  Day  ;  or,  A  further  Discovery  of  the  present  State 
of  the  Indiaris  in  .Xew  England,  fyc.  Published  by  Henry 
Whitfeld.  London.  1651."  —  Mr.  Whitfeld  (or,  as  it  is 
sometimes  written,  Whitfield)  was  the  first  minister   of 


348  APPENDIX. 

Guilford  in  Connecticut.  He  returned  to  England  in  1650, 
and  there  published  this  book.  It  is  dedicated  by  him  to 
the  Parliament,  and  contains  one  letter  from  Mayhew,  and 
five  letters  from  Mr.  Eliot. 

7.  "  Strength  out  of  Weakness  ;  or,  a  Glorious  Mani- 
festation of  the  further  Progresse  of  the  Gospel  amongst 
the  Indians  in  New  England,  fyc.  London.  1652."  —  The 
first  tract  published  by  "  The  Corporation  for  promoting 
the  Gospel  among  the  Heathen  in  New  England."  It  is 
dedicated  to  the  Parliament  by  William  Steele  in  the 
name  of  the  Corporation,  and  has  an  "Address  to  the 
Reader"  by  a  number  of  distinguished  divines.  It  contains 
two  letters  from  Mr.  Eliot,  one  from  the  Reverend  John 
Wilson,  and  one  from  Governor  Endicot,  each  giving  an 
account  of  the  Natick  settlement,  and  letters  from  Lever- 
idge,  Mayhew,  and  others. 

8.  "  Tears  of  Repentance  ;  or,  A  further  Narrative  of 
the  Progress  of  the  Gospel  amongst  the  Indians  in  New 
England ;  fyc.  Related  by  Mr.  Eliot  and  Mr.  Mayhew,  tivo 
faithful  Laborers  in  that  Work  of  the  Lord.  London. 
1653." — A  large  tract  published  by  the  Corporation.  A 
considerable  effort  was  made  to  render  it  the  means  of 
attracting  attention  to  the  cause  of  religion  among  the 
Indians.  It  is  preceded  by  an  address  to  Cromwell  from 
William  Steele,  president  of  the  Corporation ;  by  a  letter 
to  the  Corporation  from  Mayhew,  setting  in  a  favorable 
light  the  nature  and  progress  of  the  work  at  Martha's 
Vineyard  ;  by  an  address  to  Cromwell  from  Eliot,  and 
another  to  the  reader  from  the  same  hand ;  and  by  remarks 
"  to  the  Christian  reader "  from  Richard  Mather  of  Dor- 
chester. It  begins  with  Mr.  Eliot's  "  Brief  Relation  of  the 
Proceedings  of  the  Lord's  Work  among  the  Indians  in  refer- 
ence unto  their  Church- Estate."  Then  follow,  in  somewhat 
minute  detail,  the  Confessions  of  the  Christian  natives 
preparatory  to  their  ecclesiastical  organization. 


a  p  p  e  x  d  r  x  .  3  49 

9.  "  A  Late  and  Further  Manifestation  of  the  Progress 

of  the  Gospel  amongst  the  Indians  in  New  England, 
Declaring  their  constant  Love  and  Zeal  to  ike  Truth,  %-c. 
Being  a  Narrative  of  the  Examinations  of  the  Indians 
about  their  Knowledge  in  Religion,  by  the  Elders  of  the 
Churches.  Related  by  Mr.  John  Eliot.  London.  1655.5;  — 
Published  by  the  Corpoidtion.  There  is  an  address  to  the 
reader  by  Joseph  Caryl,  a  divine  known  by  his  elaborate 
commentary  on  Job.  The  tract  consists  of  two  parts ; 
namely,  "A  Brief  Narration  of  the  Indians'  Proceedings 
in  respect  of  Church-Estate,  and  how  the  Case  standeth 
at  the  present  with  us "  ;  and  "  The  Examination  of  the 
Indians  at  Roxbury,  the  13th  Day  of  the  4th  Month,  1654." 

10.  "  Of  the  Gospel  amongst  the  Indians  in  New  Eng- 
land ;  being  a  Relation  of  the  Confessions  made  by  several 
Indians,  in  order  to  their  Admission  into  Church  Fellowship. 
Sent  over  to  the  Corporation,  fyc.  By  Mr.  John  Eliot,  one 
of  the  Laborers  amongst  them.  London.  1659."  —  This 
tract  I  have  never  seen.  My  only  knowledge  of  it  is 
derived  from  Mr.  Rich's  Catalogue,  (Part  I.  p.  86.)  Judg- 
ing- from  its  title,  it  may  perhaps  be  another  edition,  or  a 
repetition  in  another  form,  of  what  Eliot  had  before  written 
on  the  same  subject. 

11.  "  A  Briefe  Narrative  of  the  Progress  of  the  Gospel 
among  the  Indians  in  New  England  in  the  Year  1670. 
Given  in  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Eliot,  Minister  of  the  Gos- 
pel there,  in  a  Letter  by  him  directed  to  the  Right  Worship- 
ful the  Commissioners  under  his  Majesty's  Great  Seal,  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  amongst  the  poor  blind  Na- 
tives in  those  United  Colonies.  London.  1671."  —  A  small 
tract  of  eleven  pages,  which  I  have  not  been  able  to  find. 
Its  title  is  contained  in  Mr.  Rich's  Catalogue,  (Part  I. 
p.  96.)  It  was  probably  the  first  publication  of  the  Cor- 
poration, after  their  charter  was  confirmed  or  renewed  by 
Charles  the  Second.     I  presume  it  to  be  the  same  account, 

Hh 


350  APPENDIX. 

of  which  Hutchinson  makes  so  much  use  in  his  note  con 
cerning  the  Praying  Indians,  Vol.  I.  p.  156. 

Seven  of  the  above  tracts,  namely,  those  from  the  third 
to  the  ninth  inclusive,  have  been  republished  together  in 
the  fourth  volume  of  the  third  series  of  the  Collections  of 
the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  The  original  copies 
were  kindly  furnished  by  the  American  Antiquarian  So 
ciety,  whose  valuable  library  contains  them  bound  in  onf 
volume.  Neal  used  several  of  these  narratives  in  com 
posing  his  History  of  New  England.  From  him  and  frort 
the  London  Missionary  Register,  I  believe,  our  writers 
had  taken  all  that  they  knew  of  them,  till  the  abovemen- 
tioned  reprint  appeared.  These  very  important  tracts  had 
become  exceedingly  scarce  ;  and  the  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society,  by  making  them  accessible  to  the  public 
have  added  another  to  their  many  good  services  in  the 
cause  of  American  antiquities.  Several  of  the  originals 
are  now  in  the  library  of  Harvard  College. 

It  may  here  be  added,  that  Mr.  Eliot  published,  in  a 
small  pamphlet  of  twelve  pages,  the  "  Dying  Speeches  and 
Counsels  of  such  Indians  as  dyed  in  the  Lord."  It  is  with- 
out date,  and  contains  the  acknowledgments,  testimonies, 
and  advice,  which  were  uttered  by  some  of  the  Christian 
natives,  when  they  were  about  to  leave  the  world. 


No.  II.    p.  194. 


The  sale  of  spirituous  liquors  to  the  Indians  was  for- 
bidden in  Massachusetts,  but  the  prohibition  was  evaded. 
"  Though  all  strong  drink,"  says  Gookin,  "  is  strictly  pro- 
hibited to  be  sold  to  any  Indian  in  the  Massachusetts 
colony,  upon  the  penalty  of  forty  shillings  a  pint,  yet  some 
ill-disposed  people,  for  filthy  lucre's  sake,  do  sell  unto  the 
Indians  secretly,  though  the  Indians  will  rarely  discover 
the«e  evil  merchants  :  they  do  rather  suffer  whipping  or 


APPENDIX.  351 

fine  than  tell."  The  same  writer  adds,  —  "This  beastly 
sin  of  drunkenness  could  not  be  charged  upon  the  Indians 
before  the  English  and  other  Christian  nations,  as  Dutch, 
French,  and  Spaniards,  came  to  dwell  in  America  ;  which 
nations,  especially  the  English  in  New  England,  have 
cause  to  be  greatly  humbled  before  God,  that  they  have 
been,  and  are,  instrumental  to  cause  these  Indians  to 
commit  this  great  evil  and  beastly  sin  of  drunkenness." 
(1  M.  H.  Coll.,  Vol.  I.  p.  151.)  The  testimony  of  Gookin 
on  this  point  is  confirmed  by  Heckewelder,  who  says, — 
"The  Mexicans  have  their  Pulque  and  other  indigenous 
beverages  of  an  inebriating  nature  ;  but  the  North  Ameri- 
can Indians,  before  their  intercourse  with  us  commenced, 
had  absolutely  nothing  of  the  kind."  (Historical  Account, 
&c,  ch.  36.) 

Mr.  Eliot's  attention  was  early  turned  to  this  subject,  as 
appears  by  the  following  petition  presented  by  him  to  the 
Court,  October  '-23d,  1648,  a  copy  of  which  has  been  kindly 
furnished  to  me,  from  the  Colony  Records,  by  the  Reverend 
Joseph  B.  Felt,  to  whose  accurate  and  faithful  researches 
into  our  early  history  the  community  is  much  indebted. 

"As  the  Indians  have  frequent  recourse  to  the  English 
houses,  and  especially  to  Boston,  where  they  too  often  see 
evil  examples  of  excessive  drinking  in  the  English,  who 
are  too  often  disguised  with  that  beastly  sin  of  drunken- 
ness; and  themselves  (many  of  them)  greatly  delight  in 
Btrong  liquors,  not  considering  the  strength  and  evil  of 
them  ;  and  also  too  well  knowing  the  liberty  of  the  law, 
which  prohibiteth  above  a  half-pint  of  wine  to  a  man,  that 
therefore  they  may  without  offence  to  the  laws  have  their 
half-pint ;  and,  when  they  have  had  it  in  one  place,  they 
may  go  to  another  and  have  the  like,  till  they  be  drunken ; 
and  sometimes  find  too  much  entertainment  that  way 
by  such  who  keep  no  ordinary,  only  desire  their  trade, 
though  it  be  with  the  hurt  and  perdition  of  their  souls  ;  — 
Therefore,  my  humble  request  unto  this  honored  Court  is 
this,  that  there  may  be  but  one  ordinary  in  all  Boston, 
who  may  have  liberty  to  sell  wine,  strong  drink,  or  strong1 


*K>*  APPENDIX. 

liquors  unto  the  Indians;  and  that  vhoeurr  shall  further 
them  in  their  vicious  drinking  for  their  own  base  ends, 
who  keep  no  ordinary,  may  not  be  suffered  in  such  a  sin 
without  due  punishment ;  and  that  at  what  ordinary  soever 
in  any  other  town,  as  well  as  Boston,  any  Indian  shall  be 
found  drunk,  having-  had  any  considerable  quantity  of 
drink,  there  they  should  come  under  severe  censure. 
These  things  I  am  bold  to  present  unto  you,  for  the  pre- 
venting of  those  scandalous  evils  which  greatly  blemish 
and  interrupt  their  entertainment  of  the  Gospel,  through 
the  policy  of  Satan,  who  counterworked  Christ  that  way 
with  not  a  little  uncomfortable  success.  And  thus,  with 
my  hearty  desire  of  the  gracious  and  blessed  presence 
of  God  among  you  in  all  your  weighty  affairs,  I  humbly 
take  leave,  and  rest 

"  Your  servant  to  command  in  our  Saviour  Christ, 

"John  Eliot." 

This  petition  produced  the  following  order  from  the 
Court;  — "On  petition  of  Mr.  Eliot,  none  in  Boston  to 
sell  wine  to  the  Indians,  except  Wm.  Phillips,  on  fine 
of  205." 

A  valuable  account  of  the  baneful  effects  of  supplying 
the  natives  with  spirituous  liquors  is  given  by  Halkett,  — 
Historical  Notes  respecting  the  Indians  of  North  America, 
ch.  8  and  9. 


No.  III.     p.  250. 


In  his  Grammar,  Eliot  says,  on  the  subject  of  the  declen- 
sions, "  The  variation  of  nouns  is  not  by  male  and  female,  as 
in  other  lea.-ned  languages,  and  in  European  nations  they 
do."  He  adds,  "There  be  two  forms  or  declensions  of 
nouns,  animate,  when  the  thing  signified  is  a  living  crea- 


APPENDIX.  353 

ture,  and  inanimate,  when  the  thing  signified  is  not  a 
living  creature."  (Grammar,  pp.  8  -  10.)  But  the  most  re- 
markable peculiarity  of  the  Indian  languages  is  the  alleged 
absence  of  the  substantive  verb  to  be.  "  We  have,"  says 
Eliot,  "  no  complete  distinct  word  for  the  verb  substantive, 
as  other  learned  languages  and  our  English  tongue  have  ; 
but  it  is  under  a  regular  composition,  where  many  words 
are  made  verb  substantive."  (Grammar,  p.  15. )  Mr. 
Leveridge  made  a  similar  remark,  and  Mr.  Duponceau 
observes,  "  It  is  one  of  the  most  striking  traits  in  the 
Indian  languages,  that  they  are  entirely  deficient  of  our 
auxiliary  verbs  to  have  and  to  be.  There  are  no  words  that 
I  know  in  any  American  idioms  to  express  abstractedly 
the  ideas  signified  by  these  two  verbs."  (Report,  &c.  in 
Transactions  of  the  Historical  and  Literary  Committee, 
&c,  p.  xl.)  On  this  remark,  Judge  Davis  suggested  some 
doubts  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Duponceau.  (See  the  whole  dis- 
cussion in  2  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  IX.,  Notes  on  Eliot's 
Grammar,  pp.  xxiv.-xliv.)  If  the  above  statement  with 
respect  to  the  Indian  dialects  be  correct,  there  is  an  ex- 
ception to  the  universality  of  Adam  Smith's  remark,  who 
says,  "  There  is  in  every  language  a  verb,  known  by  the 
name  of  the  substantive  verb  ;  in  Latin  sum,  in  English 
lam.  This  verb  denotes  not  the  existence  of  any  par- 
ticular event,  but  existence  in  general.  It  is,  upon  this 
account,  the  most  abstract  and  metaphysical  of  all  verbs ; 
and,  consequently,  could  by  no  means  be  a  word  of  early 
invention."  (Considerations  on  the  Formation  of  Lan- 
guages ;  Works,  Vol.  I.  p.  426.)  But  the  able  writer  in 
the  "  North  American  Review,"  to  whom  I  have  before  had 
occasion  to  refer,  dissents  from  the  abovementioned  opin- 
ion with  regard  to  the  absence  of  the  verb  to  be  from  the 
dialects  of  our  native  tribes.  "  We  have  shown,"  says  he, 
"  the  manner  in  which  assertions  are  made  in  the  Indian 
languages  ;  and  such  expressions  as  horse  mine,  rifle  good, 
1  hungry,  are  continually  recurring.  This  anomaly  could 
not  but  excite  the  attention  of  those,  who  were  investi- 
gating these  modes  of  speech,  and  no  doubt  led  to  the 
vol.  v.  23  H  h  2 


354  APPENDIX. 

conclusion  too  hastily  adopted,  that  the  substantive  verb 
was  unknown  to  them.  So  far  as  this  verb  may  be  em- 
ployed to  denote  simple  existence,  we  believe  it  is  found 
in  all  the  aboriginal  dialects."  (Vol.  XXVI.  p.  391.)  But 
this  position  is  controverted  with  much  strength  of  argument 
in  the  "  United  States  Literary  Gazette,"  Vol.  IV.  p.  363. 


No.  IV.    p.  325. 


Twenty-four  years  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Eliot,  the 
name  of  one  of  his  grandchildren  occurs  in  a  petition 
respecting  a  tract  of  land,  which  he  had  received  or  pur- 
chased of  the  Indians.  The  case  will  be  explained  by 
the  following  extracts,  which  I  have  transcribed  from  the 
Colony  Records  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 

"  In  Council,  June  22d,  1714.  The  following  order 
passed  in  the  House  of  Representatives  ;  read  and  con- 
curred ;  viz. 

"  In  answer  to  the  petition  of  John  Eliot  praying  a  con- 
firmation of  a  tract,  of  one  thousand  acres  of  land  at  a  place 
called  the  Allom  Ponds,  lying  in  the  wilderness  west  of 
Brookfield,  given  by  the  Indian  proprietors  to  his  grand- 
father, the  Reverend  John  Eliot,  late  of  Roxbury,  Clerk, 
deceased ;  Ordered,  that  the  tract  of  one  thousand  acres  of 
land  given  by  the  Indian  proprietors  to  the  late  Reverend 
John  Eliot,  as  by  their  grant  thereof  presented  with  this 
petition  is  described,  be  confirmed  to  such  of  the  descend- 
ants of  the  said  donee  as  are  legally  entitled  to  the  same, 
provided  it  do  not  interfere  with  any  prior  grant ;  and  they 
may  improve  John  Chandler,  Esquire,  to  survey  and  lay 
it  out,  and  return  a  plat  thereof  to  this  Court  for  further 
confirmation. 

"  Consented  to.  J.  Dudlet." 


APPENDIX.  356 

The  survey  was  accordingly  made,  and  a  plat  returned 
to  the  Court,  which  is  among  the  papers  in  the  Secretary's 
office.  It  contains  a  map  and  a  minute  description  of  the 
land,  certified  by  John  Chandler.  It  is  termed,  "  The  sur- 
vey of  a  thousand  acres  of  land  purchased  by  the  Reverend 
John  Eliot,  late  of  Roxbury,  deceased,  Clerk,  of  Wattal- 
loowekin  and  Nakan,  the  27th  of  September,  1655,  and  con- 
firmed and  allowed  by  the  General  Assembly,"  &c.  The 
survey  was  made  August  26th,  1715.  On  the  back  of  the 
paper  containing  the  survey  is  the  following  order ; 

"  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  December  5th,  1715. 
Ordered,  that  the  plat  on  the  other  side  be  accepted,  and 
the  land  therein  described  be  confirmed  to  the  descendants 
of  the  late  Reverend  John  Eliot,  deceased,  pursuant  to  the 
vote  of  this  Court  passed  for  that  end  at  their  session 
in  June,  anno  1714. 

"John  Burrill,  Speaker. 

"  Sent  up  for  concurrence. 

"In  Council,  December  5th,  1715.    Read  and  concurred. 
"Sam'l  Woodward,  Sec'y." 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  is  a  discrepancy  in  the 
above  extracts  with  respect  to  the  manner,  in  which  this 
land  is  said  to  have  come  into  Mr.  Eliot's  possession.  In 
the  first  Order,  it  is  described  as  given  to  him  by  the  In- 
dian proprietors  ;  in  the  Survey,  it  is  spoken  of  as  pur- 
chased by  him  of  Wattalloowekin  and  Nakan.  The  terms 
of  the  description  in  the  Order  were  probably  taken  from 
the  grandson's  petition  ;  those  in  the  Survey  were,  it  may 
be  supposed,  the  terms  used  by  the  surveyor  to  designate 
the  land.  The  latter  would  be  more  likely,  from  inadver- 
tency, to  commit  a  mistake  in  this  matter,  than  the  former ; 
and  it  may,  therefore,  be  deemed  more  probable  that  the 
land  was  a  gift,  than  a  purchase. 


356  APPENDIX. 


No.  V.     p.  336. 

A  testimony,  fifteen  years  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Eliot, 
to  the  veneration  in  which  his  name  and  authority  were 
held  by  the  Indians,  and  also  to  the  good  effects  of  the 
diffusion  of  Christianity  among  them,  is  found  in  a  scarce 
tract  entitled,  "  A  Letter  about  the  Present  State  of  Chris- 
tianity among  the  Christianized  Indians  of  New  England. 
Written  to  the  Honorable  Sir  William  Ashurst,  Governor 
of  the  Corporation  for  Propagating  the  Gospel,"  &c.  Bos- 
ton. 1705.  This  letter  is  signed  by  Increase  Mather, 
Cotton  Mather,  and  Nehemiah  Walter.  They  write  as 
follows  ; 

"  But  we  have  now  before  us  a  letter  very  lately 
received  from  as  knowing  and  as  faithful  a  person,  as 
could  be  inquired  of,  wherein  he  speaks  a  little  more 
particularly.  He  says,  '  The  administration  of  sacra- 
ments among  them  [the  Indians]  is  like  ours,  and  as  they 
were  taught  by  their  apostle  Eliot.  His  name  is  of  won- 
derful authority  among  them  ;  and  the  rules  he  gave  them 
for  the  form  of  marriages,  and  for  admonitions  and  excom- 
munications in  their  churches,  are  not  to  be  found  fault 
with  by  any,  but  it  will  provoke  them.  Not  long  since  an 
Indian  lodged  at  an  Englishman's  house  one  night ;  and 
the  next  day  he  visited  me  and  asked,  why  the  man  at 
whose  house  he  lodged  did  not  pray  in  his  family.  Seeing 
that  Mr.  Eliot  taught  the  Indians  to  do  it  every  day,  morn- 
ing and  evening,  he  thought  it  strange  that  the  English 
should  direct  them  to  pray  in  their  families,  and  yet  not 
do  it  themselves.  But  at  last  he  entertained  the  distinc- 
tion, that  there  were  matchet  Englishmen,  as  well  as 
matchet  Indians,  and  that  some  English  did  not  practise 
as  they  had  been  taught  to  do.  [Matchet,  that  is  to  say, 
naughty  or  wicked].' 

" '  To  your  last  inquiry,  What  I  think  there  may  be  of 
piety  among  them.  Sir,  I  think  that  there  were  many  of 
the  old  generation,  who  were  instructed  by  the   reverend 


APPENDIX.  357 

Eliot  and  others,  which  died  in  the  Lord,  and  the  first 
fruits  of  them  are  in  heaven  as  an  earnest  of  more  to  fol- 
low. I  think  the  censorious  English  among  us  are  not  to 
be  the  rule  for  our  charity  about  them.  Yet  let  me  say, 
I  could  never  yet  inquire  of  any  plantation  or  assembly 
of  Indians,  but  the  most  censorious  English  would  grant, 
there  were  three  or  four  persons  in  that  plantation,  who, 
they  verily  believed,  were  sound  Christians,  though  they 
condemned  the  rest.  Whereas,  a  charitable  man  would 
have  reckoned  these  three  or  four  to  have  been  the  most 
eminent  for  piety  among  them,  and  have  granted  the  rest 
to  have  such  a  measure  of  knowledge  in  the  Gospel 
method  of  salvation,  and  to  be  so  ready  to  submit  with 
most  admirable  patience  to  the  church  censures  among 
them,  and  so  penitent  in  their  confessions  of  their  faults, 
and  fearful  afterwards  of  relapsing  into  the  same  or  like 
faults,  as  might  be  a  just  foundation  to  hope  that  they  are 
travelling  the  right  way  to  heaven.'  "  —  pp.  9-  11. 


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